Bundesliga
Ahead of the release of the full fixture list for the new 2025/26 Bundesliga season, it has already been revealed that Bayern Munich will kick off the new campaign at home to RB Leipzig on Friday 22 August.
As is tradition, the reigning league champions get the new campaign under way, and this year is set to begin with a bang as Vincent Kompany’s Bayern side host long-standing rivals Leipzig.
Bayern regained the German crown from 2023/24 champions Bayer Leverkusen last term after amassing 82 points, losing just twice along the way.
Despite losing Thomas Müller, Leroy Sané and Eric Dier over the summer, they have strengthened by recruiting Jonathan Tah and Tom Bischof.
Leipzig, meanwhile, fell short of their lofty standards in 2024/25 and ended up in seventh spot, out of European qualifying.
Head coach Marco Rose was dismissed in March and replaced in an interim capacity by Zsolt Lőw, with tactician Ole Werner announced as the new man in the hotseat at the Red Bull Arena earlier this week.
Watch: How the Bundesliga fixture list is made
The 37-year-old enhanced his reputation across a three-and-a-half-year spell at Werder Bremen, steering them back into the top flight from Bundesliga 2 and overseeing improvement every year with 13th, ninth and eighth placed finishes between 2023 and 2025.
With the likes of Xavi, Loïs Openda and Benjamin Šeško now at his disposal, big things are expected of Werner at Leipzig.
Starting with the Matchday 1 curtain-raiser at the Allianz Arena.
Watch: The first goals of the last 10 seasons
The teams have met 18 times in the Bundesliga to date, and while Bayern won four of the first five, Leipzig have since become one of the Bavarians’ bogey teams.
There have been seven draws since then, including a thrilling 3-3 stalemate on Matchday 32 last season, while Leipzig earned a 3-1 victory in Munich in May 2023, coming from a goal down thanks to three second-half goals.
Dani Olmo also hit a hat-trick in the 2023 Supercup as Leipzig spoiled Harry Kane’s debut at Bayern with a thumping 3-0 success in Munich.
So mark this match in your calendars! With an average of 3.5 goals per game, as well as Kane, Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise, among others, out to start with a win, this one is not to be missed!