When are the Bundesliga highlights?
The 62nd season of the men’s Bundesliga starts this Friday (23 August) with defending champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen playing away at Borussia Mönchengladbach. FC Bayern Munich will open the season away at VfL Wolfsburg, while Borussia Dortmund will host Eintracht Frankfurt.
On September 28th, the duel between record champions Bayern and the current title holders from Leverkusen is scheduled. The “German Clasico” will take place on November 30th, when Dortmund hosts the Munich team. The winter break begins on December 23rd, and it continues on January 10th, 2025. The season ends on May 17th, 2025.
The Women’s Bundesliga starts on August 30th. After the upcoming season, only one team will be relegated. The reason: The top division will be expanded from twelve to 14 teams in the 2025/26 season.
What’s new in this Bundesliga season?
Two new teams want to shake up the Bundesliga: Holstein Kiel and FC St. Pauli come from the second division and replace the relegated teams 1. FC Köln and SV Darmstadt 98. Kiel are making their debut in the Bundesliga, while St. Pauli are returning to the top division after a 13-year absence – albeit with a new head coach. Fabian Hürzeler left Hamburg after their promotion and moved to England to join Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion. St. Pauli’s new coach is Alexander Blessin, who led Belgian first division club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise to cup victory and runner-up last season.
FC Bayern also has a new head coach: Belgian Vincent Kompany replaces the hapless Thomas Tuchel. For the first time since 2012, the Munich team remained without a title last season. Kompany comes with the recommendation that Burnley FC be promoted directly back to the Premier League under his leadership.
At Borussia Dortmund, Nuri Sahin takes over the position of head coach from Edin Terzic, who resigned after the rollercoaster ride of last season. BVB only finished the Bundesliga season in fifth place. In the Champions League, Dortmund reached the final, where they were defeated by Real Madrid.
The fact that Christian Streich is no longer on the sidelines takes some getting used to. The SC Freiburg club icon has said goodbye after twelve years. Julian Schuster is taking over the helm at Freiburg. There are also new coaches at VfL Bochum (Peter Zeidler) and 1. FC Union Berlin (Bo Svensson).
With the veteran Marco Reus, Borussia Dortmund loses a crowd favoriteImage: Bernd Thissen/dpa/picture alliance
With the 35-year-old veterans Marco Reus and Mats Hummels, who both played for Dortmund last season, two former national players are leaving the Bundesliga after a decade and a half. Reus is joining the US club LA Galaxy in Los Angeles. Where Hummels will go is not yet clear.
Were there any notable transfers?
Bayern Munich have spent big this summer signing a number of new players, including Japanese defender Hiroki Ito, who joins from surprise runners-up VfB Stuttgart, French winger Michael Olise from Premier League club Crystal Palace and Portuguese midfielder Joao Palhinha from Fulham.
Borussia Dortmund was also very active in the transfer market. BVB brought in international player Pascal Groß from Brighton & Hove Albion, as well as Waldemar Anton and Serhou Guirassy, who both played for Stuttgart last season. Guirassy, Guinea’s international striker, scored 28 goals in 28 games for VfB.
Defending champion Bayer Leverkusen signed French winger Martin Terrier. 1. FC Heidenheim, who surprised everyone last season by finishing eighth as a newly promoted team, lost two key players in Jan-Niklas Beste (to Benfica Lisbon) and Tim Kleindienst (to Borussia Mönchengladbach).
Can Bayer 04 Leverkusen defend its Bundesliga title?
Since both championship coach Xabi Alonso and attacking star Florian Wirtz have stayed in Leverkusen, the Werkself’s chances are good. Even though Bayer has now gone from being the hunter to the hunted, Alonso and his team have what it takes to win the second championship title in a row.
Most of the Bayer squad is still there. And Bayern and Dortmund, the expected main rivals in the championship race, may have to find their feet under their new coaches Kompany and Sahin. So there is a lot to suggest another exciting Bundesliga season with strong Leverkusen players.
Which young talents are particularly worth paying attention to?
Eintracht Frankfurt has signed the 18-year-old striker Can Uzun. Last season, he played a key role in second division club 1. FC Nuremberg’s survival with 16 goals. Uzun, who was born in Regensburg, chose the Turkish national team over the German one and played his first international match for Turkey in March.
Last season, Bayern loan player Paul Wanner (2nd from right) had a regular place at second division club ElversbergImage: Fabian Kleer/Fußball-News Saarland/picture alliance
Much has been written about Paul Wanner of FC Bayern since he made his debut for the German record champions in 2022 at the age of just 16. After impressing at second division club SV Elversberg last season, Bayern have now loaned him out again: The now 18-year-old attacking midfielder is set to play regularly in the Bundesliga at 1. FC Heidenheim – and also get a taste of international football in the European Conference League.
What rule changes are coming?
At the start of the season, the so-called “captain’s rule” was introduced. If there are controversial situations, only the captain of a team is allowed to speak to the referee. Other players who try to do so risk a yellow card. This is intended to prevent the bad habit that was often observed in the past, where a group of players would speak to the referee about many referee decisions. The “captain’s rule” proved its worth this summer at the European Championships in Germany.
This article has been adapted from English.
