The task facing Kaiserslautern could not be more gargantuan. As they walk out to the monumental backdrop of the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Saturday, they will know they are expected to lose by everyone other than their diehard supporters and, perhaps, secretly, some of them too.
The first 2. Bundesliga side to reach the DFB-Pokal final in more than a decade, they must aim to become the first team to beat Bayer Leverkusen in domestic competition this season. Xabi Alonso’s side are champions of Germany and, before their off night against Atalanta in the Europa League final, had gone a record 51 games without defeat; Kaiserslautern spent much of the campaign trying to avoid relegation to the third tier. They do not so much have a mountain to climb as two Everests stacked on top of one another, teetering ominously.
