With one game remaining, second-place leaders Darmstadt 98 defeated Magdeburg 1-0 on Friday to clinch their return to the Bundesliga after a six-year absence.
Phillip Tietz, the leading scorer for Darmstadt, scored the game-winning goal in the 36th minute following a VAR review, putting his team seven points ahead of third-place Hamburg.
Tobias Kempe, a seasoned player who had previously represented Darmstadt in the Bundesliga during the 2015–16 season, remarked, “We deserved it so much.”
Torsten Lieberknecht, the coach, declared, “I’m empty, completely empty.” “After Braunschweig, I never imagined that I would discover something similar again. I’m so proud,” he declared.
 Darmstadt secures return to Bundesliga after six years
In just three seasons between 2010 and 2013, Lieberknecht took Eintracht Braunschweig from the 3. Bundesliga to the top division, however, the small club could only survive a year there on a shoestring budget.
The Bundesliga race
The top two teams from the second Bundesliga advance automatically, while the third club competes in a playoff with the third-from-last Bundesliga team, which is currently in 16th place.
On Saturday, second-place Heidenheim, who has 61 points, will play Sandhausen, while third-place Hamburg has 60 points. Despite the fact that both of those teams still have two games remaining, it is now mathematically impossible for Hamburg to overtake Darmstadt, ensuring Lieberknecht’s team of automatic promotion regardless of the outcome.
