Torsten Lieberknecht once led Braunschweig from the 3rd division to the Bundesliga. On his return with Darmstadt, the football teacher is warmly welcomed - and takes three points with him.
Braunschweig (dpa/lhe) - Darmstadt 98 gave coach Torsten Lieberknecht three points when he returned to his old place of work. The Hessians deservedly won 1-0 (0-0) at newly promoted Eintracht Braunschweig on Sunday and improved to ninth place in the 2nd Bundesliga with six points.
"It was a very, very special game for me and very emotional," Lieberknecht described his feelings on the Sky microphone after the final whistle. "I can't hide the fact that my heart is pumping faster when I drive here to the stadium."
The 18-year-old Swede Oscar Vilhelmsson scored the winning goal for the Hessians in the 86th minute. After that, the new signing from IFK Göteborg received extra praise from Lieberknecht: "Oscar is a very mature boy and an open guy. He will go his own way."
The "Lilies", who are clearly better in terms of play, had previously missed several big chances. In the 49th minute Phillip Tietz failed with a penalty kick on his former teammate Jasmin Fejzic. 14 minutes later, the native of Braunschweig shot over the goal from a similarly short distance. Magnus Warming (68th), who had just come on as a substitute, hit the post. "But we persevered. It was a deserved win," said Lieberknecht with satisfaction.
In front of 16,731 spectators, the harmless Braunschweiger only kept up in the first half, but welcomed their record coach with applause and posters. The 49-year-old coached Eintracht from 2008 to 2018 and led them from the 3rd division to the Bundesliga. "It was a phase in my life as a coach that was very emotional, very passionate and also very successful. It means a lot to me that I was welcomed here so warmly," said Lieberknecht.
