A couple of weeks ago, there was no doubt about the result of the DFB Pokal semi-final match between Bayern Munich and Kaiserslautern. Bayern are the current Bundesliga champions and arguably world’s best football club at the moment, while Kaiserslautern plays in the German second division. It had the air of Goliath playing against a crippled David.

But after a string of poor performances, the Munich side appears a shadow of the all-conquering team. And Kaiserslautern has quietly strung together a seven-match winning streak. Goliath is limping now and David is in good spirits.

At first, Bayern’s poor form appeared like a minor hangover that resulted from the celebrations of winning the Bundesliga crown well before the season-end. The hangover soon became a permanent headache. The team has won just one of the last five matches. They will take heart from the fact that they managed to win the most important match – against Manchester United to enter the Champions League semi-final.

Bayern’s performance will decide this match’s outcome. Even the best of Kaiserslautern will end up futile, if Bayern plays at half their potential. But in some of the recent matches, they were well below the mark. And that should offer hopes to the minnows.

Kaiserslautern have an excellent striker in Simon Zoller. Together with midfielder Mohamadou Idrissou, he can harry the Munich side’s defence.

Pep Guardiola’s idea of giving chances to the usual benchwarmers has spectacularly backfired. He is not likely to take much risk and likely to field most of the stars.

Bayern Munich-Kaiserslautern Prediction

Despite all the negative vibes coming out of the Bayern camp, they are likely to emerge out victorious after the match. There is such seemingly insurmountable gulf in quality between the two sides.

Half Time/Full Time Bayern/Bayern 1.28 @ Bet365