Darmstadt should lose 18-0 at Bayern, says president

Berlin (AFP) – Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich on Saturday host bottom side Darmstadt, whose club president says it should be an 18-0 thrashing – based on the clubs’ respective financial clout.

Darmstadt’s two-year stint in the Bundesliga is poised to end with their relegation set to be confirmed after Saturday’s David verses Goliath clash, given that they are nine points from safety with three games left.

Ruediger Fritsch, Darmstadt’s president, says ‘The Lillies’ have had a good run for their money with a squad worth around 25 million euros ($27.4m) — which is peanuts in Germany’s top flight. 

His club is bottom of the table, but Fritsch is still impressed with recent results, under ex-Germany midfielder Torsten Frings, as Darmstadt has won their last three games to keep their survival hopes alive.

“With our opportunities, the Bundesliga is always an adventure and a challenge,” Fritsch told Die Welt.

“We start with a big (financial) gap behind the other clubs.

“To give a few numbers, we can keep up in the second division, but if you look at an established Bundesliga club like Eintracht Frankfurt, they have a playing squad worth three times ours, at around 75-80 million euros.

“And don’t even start looking at Bayern Munich’s (squad worth around) 360 million. 

“If you think about it, when we play against them this weekend — 25 million euros are playing against over 300 million euros.

“Actually, we should lose 18-0 there.

“So you can see that we are super happy with how things have gone and sometimes you achieve more in a team sport than the facts suggest.”

Carlo Ancelotti’s star-studded Bayern were confirmed German league champions last weekend for the fifth year in a row after their 6-0 thrashing of Wolfsburg and Darmstadt need a near-miracle in Munich.

They lost 3-1 in February 2016, their only previous appearance at Munich’s Allianz Arena, and have never beaten Bayern in seven previous meetings.

However, only a Douglas Costa free-kick in the 71st minute sealed Bayern’s 1-0 win at Darmstadt last December.