Bundesliga
Whether you’re defending the Bundesliga title or you’re only just embarking on a victorious campaign, the opening round of fixtures often sets the tone for the rest of the season. So, just how important is Matchday 1 for champions old and new?
Often, defending champions have begun perfectly. In fact, they have prevailed 36 times – which works out at a healthy 58 percent - drawing on another 14 occasions. However, things don’t always go to plan; the previous term’s winners have been beaten on the opening day of the following campaign 12 times.
Only nine times have the current champions not scored in their first Bundesliga match of the new campaign, which last occurred in 2001 when Bayern Munich succumbed 1-0 to Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Unsurprisingly, Bayern feature heavily amongst the opening-day record holders, although not always where you would expect.
While it is their 8-0 triumph over Schalke in 2020/21 that remains the biggest victory on the opening day for the reigning champions, their 6-0 loss at the hands of Kickers Offenbach in 1974 is still the heaviest defeat to kick off a title defence.
In 1968, Nuremberg may still have been reminiscing about their glorious 1967/68 term when they suffered a 4-1 defeat at home to Alemannia Aachen in the first match of the subsequent season.
Watch: Bayern Munich 8-0 Schalke – highlights
The Club were unable to reclaim their place on the top step of the podium – they were even relegated to the second tier, becoming the first and only reigning champions to date to do so - at the end of that campaign, something which has proven historically difficult after an opening day loss. Bayern’s 1985/86 vintage are the only team to do so, being edged out by Uerdingen before claiming the Meisterschale on the final day.
And what about the opening matches of teams who go on to become champions? Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and eventual victors often look back positively on their first game. They have prevailed in 43 of 62 such matches, suffering just eight defeats – Borussia Dortmund were the last to do so, losing 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen in 2010/11 before blowing the rest of the division away over for the remainder of the year.
Meanwhile Stuttgart, who triumphed in 2006/07, are the only side to end the first matchday in the automatic relegation spots and go on to finish at the summit. Who knew that a 3-0 loss to Nuremberg would be the making of them?
Elsewhere, Kaiserslautern are the only team to beat the reigning champions on the opening day and go on to win the title, getting the better of Bayern in 1997/98 immediately after earning promotion.
Given their overwhelming success, looking at Bayern’s opening-day matches in more detail makes sense. They have kicked off their victorious seasons with a win 79 percent of the time, incredibly losing just once.
The first matchday in triumphant terms has seen Bayern amass 2.5 points per game compared to 1.7 when they have been unable to reign supreme. It will be no surprise to read that the Bavarians are the best at getting their seasons off on the right foot, picking up 2.15 points on average in curtain-raisers.
Whether looking to defend a title or wrestle the trophy away from the previous winners, kicking off with a three-point haul is usually, although not quite always, crucial. One thing’s for sure, though – every game in the 2025/26 term will play its part, so make sure you don’t miss a beat!