Next opponents: the Red Devils!

Kaiserslautern are back in the Bundesliga, and isn't there some history that needs to be mentioned? Following promotion with manager Otto Rehhagel, the Red Devils stormed to their maiden league title success - therefore marking their names in the history books forever. Never before had a promoted team achieved Bundesliga success at the first attempt. However, that was then; the reality of now is very different. Following the departures of key players Erik Jendrisek (Schalke 04), Sidney Sam (Bayer Leverkusen) and Georges Mandjeck (Stadt Rennais), the team has more realistic goals - simply to stay in the division. "The trio played a key role in our promotion, and of course now we have a new group of players - a group that we are delighted with", reported Marco Kurz in positive fashion.

Leader of the pack is captain Martin Amedick. Last season he clocked up 3060 minutes of 2. Bundesliga action - he played 90 minutes of all 34 league games. His teammate Rodnei also played every minute of every game, an incredible feat. Indeed a total of 10 FCK players played a total of 30 or more league games over the past campaign. This doesn't mean there is a lack of competition for players, though. Jan Simunek has arrived from VfL Wolfsburg, and one of his first comments was simply: "I've come here to play." In the centre of their midfield they have plenty of players fighting for a starting spot. Jiri Bilek, Christian Tiffers, Oliver Kirch, Jan Moravek and Ivo Iličević are all players capable of starring for the team in midfield.

Just one week after the side's amazing 2:0 victory over Bundesliga record holders Bayern Munich, a derby game against Mainz 05 resulted in the Red Devil's first loss of the season (1:2). Boss Kurz talked after the game about the bad luck that led to his side conceding two goals: "We played the game well. Unfortunately, though, we made errors in the final third of the pitch and were unlucky with the goals we let in."
Yet the fire is still burning brightly, even with their defeat against Mainz. Perhaps not as brightly as after the Bayern game, but it is certainly still there. "The game hasn't taken the wind from our sails, we accepted the defeat and have moved on. We just need to be cleverer," said defender Florian Dick. Table leaders 1899 Hoffenheim await Kaiserslautern this weekend, and it gives FCK a perfect chance to put banish the pain of that derby defeat. Should it be four wins out of four for Hoffenheim at the weekend, then maybe, just maybe, their burning fire might turn into more of a flickering flame.