About 5,000 Red Devil fans will be in Cologne on Sunday to support their team. (X/1. FC Kaiserslautern)
It is all or nothing on Sunday when 1. FC Kaiserslautern plays its final game of the season in Cologne.
The Red Devils need to beat 1. FC Cologne if they want to keep their chances of taking third place and the shot at playing the 16th-place Bundesliga team, at the moment Heidenheim, in a two-game playoff for a spot in Germany’s top soccer league.
Unfortunately for Kaiserslautern, which is in sixth place going into the final day of play, jumping up to third also requires losses by the teams in front of them.
Cologne is in second place behind Hamburg, with 58 points, followed by Elversberg and Paderborn with 55. Düsseldorf and FCK both have 53 points.
It is an important match for Cologne, too. A loss against the Red Devils and wins by Elversberg and Paderborn would drop “Eff-Zeh,” as the club is nicknamed, to fourth and out of promotion contention. Wins by either of those two teams would also leave out FCK.
Except for Cologne, all the other teams in contention are playing away matches.
FCK coach Torsten Lieberknecht can send his best team onto the pitch Sunday. The only player missing who would possibly start or be substituted in is Kenny Prince Redondo, who is suspended after seeing his fifth yellow card of the season.
Around 5,000 fans will be in the stadium on Sunday supporting the Red Devils.
A bit of history is giving them hope. In 1991, FCK traveled to Cologne for the final game of the season and beat Eff-Zeh 6-2, giving the Red Devils their third German championship and their first Bundesliga title.
May 16, 2025 11:15
