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[Translate to English:] FCK - Bayern

Friday evening, the first home game of the new campaign, and the renowned Fritz Walter Stadium packed to the rafters as the Red Devils welcomed champions FC Bayern Munich at the Betzenberg. In the first Bundesliga game in Kaiserslautern since May, 6, 2006, a cheering 49,780 full house at the Betze saw the Red Devils take on the nation’s most successful club. Weirdly enough, the opponent on that memorable day in May, more than four years ago, was FC Bayern Munich too.

FCK boss Kurz had coined the motto for the game at the pre-match press conference: “We must be brave and go out onto the pitch with the feeling of being able to defeat the opponent.”

FCK coach Kurz made three changes to the side which beat FC Köln in last Saturday’s opening match. While Tiffert replaced the injured Moravek alongside Bilek in central midfield, Ilicevic took over on the left wing. The FCK boss named Amedick and Rodnei in central defense, with Dick and Jessen at full-back, and Sippel in goal. Oliver Kirch patrolled the right flank, while Lakic and Nemec appeared up front.

Bayern coach Louis van Gaal handed fit-again Ivica Olic a starting berth as he took over from Kroos in attacking midfield. For skipper Mark van Bommel it was the first visit to the Betzenberg - and it should become a night to remember for the Dutch international.

A hostile 49,780 capacity crowd at the Fritz Walter Stadium greeted the star-studded side onto the pitch, and once referee Meyer whistled play underway on that eagerly awaited Friday evening at the Betze, both sides made a furious start, with the visitors creating the first chance from a corner kick on five minutes. The Red Devils’ faithful saw an attack-minded home side acting boldly right from the beginning. Kirch sent a clear-cut cross to Ilicevic on the left, but the winger was stopped by an opponent.

On 17 minutes, Ribery fired a thundering free-kick from 30 yards just wide, and the Red Devils fought right back pressing for the first goal. The visitors could have opened the scoring on 23 minutes when Müller appeared in front of Lauter’s goal with only shot-stopper Sippel to beat, but the young Germany international’s shot missed the target by the fraction of an inch.

The action on the pitch hotted up and the crowd on the terraces gave all they had to cheer their team on. True to the coach’s motto, the Red Devils enhanced the pressure as Kirch crossed for Ilicevic on the opposite wing, with Ilicevic slipping the ball on to Jessen in the box, but the Danish defender’s attempt flew just wide.

Former FCK player Miro Klose knew what he was talking about when he warned: “Friday evening games at the Betze were always the crackers – and FCK normally won.” With 36 minutes on the clock, the Red Devils performed at their best as Ilicevic proved his nose for goal when he put his team in the lead from a neat Tiffert cross – and once again, the Betze was seething. But there was even more trouble to come for the German champions as Srdjan Lakic had the ball in the net again barely 60 seconds later.

Bent on battling back, Van Gaal’s men launched a furious assault on the home goal after the restart but were unable to burry the ball in the net. On 52 minutes, FCK boss Kurz substituted Adam Nemec and handed FCK new signing Clemens Walch his first appearance at the Betzenberg.

In an attempt to close the gap, the visitors upped the pace after 55 minutes. However, Kurz’s men battled and fought all the way to safeguard their lead. Sub Toni Kroos forced Tobi Sippel to perform heroics as he fired a shot on goal from 20 yards, but the Germany Under-21 ‘keeper saved capably.

But it was by no means one-way traffic as the Red Devils did not try to solely defend their lead but continued to create decent scoring chances and rattled up an impressive corner count. Rodnei could have added the third a quarter from time, but his header missed the target by a hairbreadth.

The Red Devils even regained the upper hand in the closing stages, proving their unbelievable fighting spirit in an attempt to crown their overwhelming display with a third goal. On 83 minutes, sub Jimmy Hoffer almost had the ball in the net when he gave three opponents the runaround on his way towards the visitor’s goal, but the Austrian forward was stopped at the penalty area.

On a perfect Friday evening, Marco Kurz’s men picked up maximum points again as they chalked up an utterly merited 2-0 victory over FC Bayern Munich.