I could not find a thread for the match so I created one. Team line up: Burki, Sokratis, Ginter, Schmelzer, Passlack, Dembele, Guerreiro, Pulisic, Castro, Weigl, Ramos
This is the easiest match on paper for a while. After this it's Wolfsburg, Freiburg, Madrid and then Leverkusen. Gotze will be needed for all of those games but I fear you are right and the line up is too weak, especially with the team still needing to gel
Lol. Castro just scored the first goal. Fantastic counter attack. Pass lack, Raphael, Ramos, Dembele and then Castro.
Good goal. Nice from Ramos in the build-up. This should be straightforward. Cologne battered Darmstadt in their opening game, even though it only ended up 2-0. Their win last week was daylight robbery – Frankfurt should have been out of sight long before Darmstadt got a 90th-minute winner via a mishit cross that went straight in. It’s hard to see them staying up again without Schuster and Wagner.
Darmstadt have had 18% possession and 0 shots. When your go-to guy is Marcel Heller, you know you're in trouble. Just need one more before half-time and the floodgates may open in the second half.
Darmstadt look like a clear candidate for relegation. I'll be mad if we lose control of the game and have to regret missing a few good chances. Several of their defensive guys got a yellow. That should open up further opportunities when they cannot stop attacks with fouls anymore.
Good. The left side is where the team looks strongest. Dembele is one minute brilliant the next poor but that is to to be expected. Ramos, Weigl schmelzer and especially Raphael have all been good. Pulisic has not been as involved but he made the key dribble to open up the peace that led to the second goal.
No way on earth are Darmstadt ending this game with 11 players on the pitch. They're averaging a yellow card every 10 minutes so far.
Brilliant play from Dembele. He is going to be a star. The more experience he gets and irons out his mistakes. Fantastic ball in behind the defence which led to the goal. The team is also so dangerous with the excellent delivery from Raphael. Darmstadt down to 10 now.
Raphael and Dembele subbed off. Two best players with Raphael my MOTM. I imagine they are being rested for Tuesday. So maybe Aubameyang will be the final sub to add a goal.
Fully deserved recognition of the fans for Raphael. He had barely enough time to get used to the team and has this instant impact.