Darmstadt 98 before the season finale: 5th place, but winless in five games

SV Darmstadt 98 goes into the final matchday of the 2. Bundesliga in fifth place. Before the home game against fourth-placed SC Paderborn 07, the Lilies are burdened by a series of five matches without a win.

After 33 matchdays, Darmstadt 98 stands at 52 points and fifth place in the 2025/2026 season. The starting position before the season finale is therefore still good – but recently, the team has noticeably lost ground upwards.

The table shows a stable season

After 33 games, Darmstadt has a record of 13 wins, 13 draws, and 7 losses. In addition, there are 57:43 goals and a goal difference of +14. That is currently enough for fifth place in the 2. Bundesliga – a ranking that, over months, speaks more for consistency than for outliers: many wins, but also many shared points.

Before the direct duel, the gap upwards is clear: SC Paderborn 07 is in fourth place with 59 points, Darmstadt has 52 – so the deficit is seven points. With only one matchday left, fourth place is mathematically out of reach for Darmstadt. The last matchday is therefore less of a "final for fourth place" for the Lilies and more of a conclusion in which it is about a clean finish and confirmation of the season's performance.

At the same time, it remains tight behind: Hertha BSC follows with 51 points. In this constellation, not only the result against Paderborn counts for Darmstadt, but also securing their own position in the chasing pack – especially since, in the table ranking, the goal difference is also a factor in the event of a tie on points.

The last game of the season will take place on 17.05.2026 at 3:30 p.m. at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor. The opponent is Paderborn, a direct competitor from the top group.

The form curve before Paderborn remains the problem

As stable as the season record appears overall, the current snapshot is just as clear: Darmstadt has been waiting for a win in the league for five games. During this period, there have been three losses and two draws.

• 10.05.2026: 1:1 at SC Preußen Münster
• 1:2 at Karlsruher SC
• 3:3 against SV 07 Elversberg
• 2:3 at SpVgg Greuther Fürth
• 0:2 against Hannover 96

What stands out in this series is less a single slip-up than the pattern: even in games with their own offensive moments, it was not enough for three points. For the season finale, this means a clear question: Can Darmstadt turn the weeks without a win into a convincing home game – or will the trend continue that close matches tend to tip or slip away?

Season course with clear offensive highlights

Despite the recent results crisis, Darmstadt has set clear marks this season. The biggest home win came with the 4:0 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Away, Darmstadt made the clearest statement with a 3:0 at Fortuna Düsseldorf.

The team was also involved in high-scoring games several times. The 3:3 against SV 07 Elversberg is just as much a part of this as the 3:3 at VfL Bochum and the 4:2 against SpVgg Greuther Fürth. The 57 goals scored underline that Darmstadt has found solutions going forward for long stretches and has regularly posed problems for opponents.

This results in a double reading before the conclusion: The season as a whole proves substance (points, goal difference, league position), but the recent phase shows how quickly a stable starting position loses its shine when wins are missing. Against Paderborn, two realities will meet in the finale – the numbers of a good season and the task of confirming them with a result in the last game.