About 3,500 fans will be in Karlsruhe on Sunday to support Kaiserslautern in a second division match. (X/1. FC Kaiserslautern)
The gloves are off in Kaiserslautern. The Red Devils are looking to get promoted to the Bundesliga, with three matches remaining in the season.
As always expressed by ex-coach Markus Anfang, the season goal was to improve play and have a campaign without demotion fears, as there were last year.
But with Anfang now gone and a win under new coach Torsten Lieberknecht’s belt, 1. FC Kaiserslautern changed its season goal — promotion to the top flight of German soccer.
FCK next step toward that goal is a 1:30 p.m. Sunday game in Karlsruhe.
The Red Devils are in seventh place with 49 points, one point behind third-place Magdeburg and four behind Hamburg in second. Third place qualifies for two playoff games against the Bundesliga’s 16th place team. Second place would be direct promotion to the Bundesliga.
Three other teams, Elversberg, Paderborn and Düsseldorf, also have 49 points, but Kaiserslautern has the worst goal difference of the pack.
FCK’s opponent on Sunday, archrival Karlsruher SC, is in eighth place, only two points behind. A KSC win would put them in contention for promotion.
Lieberknecht’s bench last week looked different, with a bunch of players substituted in that saw little or no action under Anfang. With almost everybody on board, it will be interesting to see who is in the lineup Sunday.
The team will have plenty of fan support. Around 3,500 supporters will be at Wildpark Stadium to cheer the Red Devils on.
They are at home the following Sunday, with a 1:30 p.m. match against Lieberknecht’s former club, SV Darmstadt 98.
The final game of the season is in Cologne at 3:30 p.m. on May 18. The away contingent for the match sold out in minutes. According to FCK officials, there were 100,000 requests to be part of the team’s limited contingent. That’s more than for the Red Devils’ German cup final last year.
May 2, 2025 13:07
