Two months after the 34th matchday of last season, the ball is rolling again in League Two. For the opener, returnee 1. FC Kaiserslautern welcomes promotion aspirants Hannover 96.
It’s bubbling away in the Palatinate. After a break of four years and 1522 days, the traditional football club 1. FC Kaiserslautern has finally returned to the second division – and is immediately in the spotlight in the opening match against Hannover 96 on Friday (8.30 pm/Sat.1 and Sky).
“The boys are on fire and fired up,” said FCK coach Dirk Schuster: “To have got the opening game is an incredible appreciation for FCK and also its fans.” 17,000 season tickets and 37,000 tickets for the opening match have been sold by the promoted club in advance.
The euphoria at the Betzenberg is huge. This is also because the Red Devils have made a lot of acquisitions during the transfer period. Rio World Champion Erik Durm – fit in time after recovering from a thigh injury – and goalkeeper Andreas Luthe from Union Berlin strengthen the ambitious promoted team, which wants to “assert itself as an unpleasant opponent in this league”, according to Schuster.
But the guests are also coming with a broad chest. Max Besuschkow, Havard Nielsen and Fabian Kunze are regulars from direct league rivals in the 96 squad, while Derrick Köhn from Willem II in the Dutch Eredivisie and Louis Schaub from 1. FC Köln are two strong players with first league experience.
Among coaches and experts, the Lower Saxons with their new coach Stefan Leitl are therefore among the top teams in the league. “Hannover is one of the favourites for promotion. They have strengthened their squad, have individual class and professionals with Bundesliga experience in every part of the team. We’re in for quite a charge,” said Schuster.
Hannover underlined their ambitions during the preparation, remaining unbeaten in seven test matches and showing good early form. In the last test before the start of the season, the Lower Saxons won clearly 3:0 against the Dutch first division team Groningen. But Leitl warns: “Our preparation is not over yet, it will still take time to fully implement our game.”
In the well-balanced second division, several teams besides Hannover have legitimate hopes of promotion, but for the traditional club Kaiserslautern, “staying in the league is the most important thing,” said captain Jean Zimmer in an interview with the SID.
The home crowd is supposed to be a big factor in this: “If the interaction with the fans works, then it is very, very nasty for the opponent at the Betzenberg,” said Zimmer. Hannover should also feel that.