Our next opponents: Kaiserslautern “need our best game of the season”

Position

After the final whistle, the fans at the Betzenberg were cheering Friedhelm Funkel, and he was clearly touched. The Neuss native once played for the Red Devils in the 1980s. As a coach, he steered the strugglers to safety in the second division two weeks ago. Despite a 3-1 loss away at Hertha Berlin on the penultimate weekend, Lautern were safe after rivals Wehen Wiesbaden and Hansa Rostock also lost their games that matchday. However, the 5-0 win over Eintracht Braunschweig last Sunday proved to be a worthy and emotional farewell for the 70-year-old in his final home game at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion, after it was confirmed that Funkel wouldn’t be staying on beyond this season. It means Saturday’s final at the Olympiastadion – just two weeks since Lautern last visited – will be his last game in charge.

Funkel is the third person to oversee Kaiserslautern this season. They made a good start to 2023/24 under Dirk Schuster, sitting third in the table after nine games, but a 4-3 loss at Fortuna Düsseldorf – where they had led 3-0 – sparked a big drop in form. Schuster was dismissed in December on the back of four straight losses, but even successor Dimitrios Grammozis couldn’t stop the spiral and was also sacked after just eight games, by which time the Red Devils had dropped to third from bottom. “He took over the ship in stormy waters and did his job here in an outstanding way,” said managing director Thomas Hengen of the vastly experienced Funkel. “He instilled incredible calm in the club, which was extremely important in achieving our goals.” In the end, the Red Devils finished in 13th place in Bundesliga 2.

Things have been much better this year in the cup for Kaiserslautern. They began their campaign by seeing off fifth-tier Rot-Weiß Koblenz 5-0 and then beat top-flight Köln 3-2 in the second round. The Red Devils continued their progress against fellow Bundesliga 2 sides Nürnberg (2-0) and Hertha (3-1), before a 2-0 semi-final victory ended Saarbrücken’s remarkable campaign, having previously eliminated Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Lautern are now in the final of the DFB Pokal for the eighth time. They have won only two of the previous seven (1990 and 1996).

personnel

There may have been some concerns regarding Almamy Toure for the final, but the red card handed to the defender in the weekend’s win over Braunschweig does not carry over into the cup. The 28-year-old will serve a three-game suspension in league fixtures but is available in Berlin. The ex-Frankfurt man is a main part of Lautern’s defence, starting each of their last three cup outings and being a key figure in the semi-final win over Saarbrücken with a goal and an assist.

However, Funkel is definitely without defender Hendrick Zuck and midfielder Julian Niehues due to cruciate ligament tears. Striker Ragnar Ache is a doubt after missing the Braunschweig game with an Achilles problem. Ben Zolinski also faces a race to be fit after his knee issue. Centre-back Jan Elvedi sat out the last league fixture due to muscular problems but should be back to face Leverkusen. Captain Jean Zimmer is also in line to play after a recent suspension.

Other key players in this Kaiserslautern team are goalkeeper Julian Krahl, defenders Boris Tomiak, Kevin Kraus and Tymoteusz Puchacz, midfielders Marlon Ritter, Kenny Prince Redondo and January signing Filip Kaloc. The Czech loanee from Banik Ostrava “played a big part in us staying up,” according to Hengen.

performers

Kaiserslautern scored 59 goals in Bundesliga 2 this season, which was actually only three fewer than champions St. Pauli (62). It’s an amazing total for a team that ended up 13th and only narrowly avoided relegation to the third division. The main goal threats are Ache (16 goals, one assist) and Ritter (10/five). The latter bagged a hat-trick of assists in last week’s 5-0 win against Braunschweig, while the 29-year-old also has two goals in the cup this term. The Red Devils have also been prolific in the Pokal, scoring 15 times across their five games. Under Funkel, Lautern seem to have rediscovered their famous ‘Betze mentality’ of playing with commitment, desire, fighting spirit, physicality and team togetherness. They will want to demonstrate all those things again at the Olympiastadion.

Problems

It’s at the back where Lautern have their biggest issues. Only bottom side Osnabrück conceded more goals in Bundesliga 2 this past season (69) than the DFB Pokal finalists (64). However, things have steadied somewhat under Funkel, but they are not a team built on possession, with an average of only 44 percent and a pass completion rate of just 78.3 percent.

Prediction

“I’ve never been more of an underdog,” said Funkel ahead of his third DFB Pokal final as a coach. He’d previously taken Duisburg and Eintracht Frankfurt to Berlin in 1998 and 2006 respectively but lost both times to Bayern. It’s the third time he’s come up against the Bundesliga champions seeking a double, to which he said: “I would’ve preferred that not to be the case.” Nevertheless, the Red Devils can count on huge support in the capital. The enthusiasm for the team in the southwest has been impressive all season, boasting the club’s highest average attendance in 13 years at 44,000. Many thousands will make the cross-country trip to Berlin. “We want to try and keep the game open for as long as possible, always look for chance. But whether we get them, I don’t know,” said Funkel. But one thing the veteran coach does know is that “even teams [like Leverkusen] have days that aren’t that good. And you need to make sure of that as the underdogs. But obviously we need our best game of the season.”