Bundesliga Matchday 1: Are you ready for some Fussball?

It’s a new season and once again the team to beat is Bayern Munich.

Last season, after early struggles with Nico Kovac, Hansi Flick took over and Bayern ran over everyone in their path. In the end, they won their eighth straight Bundesliga (30th league title overall), their 20th DFB Pokal, and their sixth European Cup. Their quest is simple—repeat the Treble. The goals of the other clubs vary, but there is a lot to absorb with a later start and a shorter Winter Break due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the Bundesliga begins its 58th season. 

(All times US Central time on ESPN+ unless stated)

BAYERN MUNICH vs. FC SCHALKE 04 (Friday at 1:30pm, ESPN):

The questions for Bayern are as follows:  Can they win their ninth straight title? How long will this winning streak (currently 21 in all competitions) and unbeaten run (currently 30 in all competitions) go? They added Leroy Sane to their ranks and is likely to start, but they did lose Ivan Persic who went back to Inter Milan and Thiago who went to Liverpool.

They will also be without fans on Friday due to a recent spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases in Munich. This will be their first match of the year after delaying their DFB Pokal match after having just won the Champions League in Lisbon less than four weeks ago. 

Schalke’s season went south rapidly last year after a fast start and ended up 12th with a 16-match winless streak. They will be boosted by the return of goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann after Alexander Nübel left for Bayern. They also will have 36-year old Vedad Ibisevic and Gonzalo Paciencia up front this season help with the goal scoring—as the Royal Blues were 3rd from bottom in that department last season. 

EINTRACHT FRANKFURT vs. ARMINIA BIELEFELD (Saturday at 8:30am)

Die Adler (The Eagles) were hot and cold last season and were left in the latter in terms of European qualification with a ninth-place finish. Gonzalo Paciencia is on loan to Schalke, but Silva’s now a permanent member of Frankfurt after initially coming in on loan from Inter Milan. He and Bas Dost scored the goals that saw Frankfurt through the second round of the DFB Pokal following a 2-1 win over 3. Liga side 1860 Munich. 

Arminia Bielefeld is back in the top flight after an 11-year absence after winning Bundesliga 2 last season. Their spells in the top flight have not lasted longer than five years, though. Fabian Klos will be key to Bielefeld’s attack. He scored 21 goals and 11 assists last season for the Armines. They will also be looking to recover from a 1-0 defeat to fourth-tier Rot-Weiss Essen in the Pokal, last weekend. 

FC UNION BERLIN vs. FC AUGSBURG (Saturday at 8:30am)

Union were an impressive 11th in their first ever year in the top flight last season. In the offseason, they signed striker Max Kruse, but he in unlikely to feature with an ankle injury. Cedric Tuchert is expected to be up front after arriving from Schalke and after Sebastian Andersson left for FC Köln. Die Eisernen (The Iron Ones) required extra time to knock off Karlsruhe last weekend in the Pokal. 

Die Fuggerstädter will look to move further away from the danger zone after placing 15th last season. To that end, they have acquired Daniel Caligiuri from Schalke and goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz from Union. The question will be who of Alfred Finnbogason or Michael Gregoritsch will join Florian Niederlechner up front. Heiko Herrlich’s side made easy work of MTV Eintracht Celle, 7-0, in the Pokal last weekend. 

FC KÖLN vs. TSG HOFFENHEIM (Saturday at 8:30am)

The Billy Goats finished 14th, but also without a win in any of the nine matches after the May restart. Top scorer Jhon Cordoba has left for Hertha Berlin, but from the captial came Sebastian Andersson from Union. The question will be who will be in goal be it Timo Horn or new signing Ron-Robert Zieler. The former was in net for Cologne’s 6-0 win over fourth-tier Altglienicke in the Pokal last weekend.

Die Kraichgauer again impressed by finishing sixth last season and will be in the Europa League. New coach Sebastian Hoeneß can thank his lucky stars for Andrej Kramaric who scored both goals in their 2-2 draw last week in the Pokal against fourth-tier Chemnitzer which Hoffenheim won on penalties. Kramaric and Christoph Baumgartner are expected to be up front on Saturday. 

SV WERDER BREMEN vs. HERTHA BERLIN (Saturday at 8:30am)

Away goals kept the Green-Whites in the top flight for a 41st consecutive year as they survived their relegation playoff against Heidenheim last season. Josh Sargent is expected to feature a lot more this season after the retirement of Claudio Pizzaro. Sargent is off on the right foot after scoring in Bremen’s 2-0 Pokal win over Carl-Zeiss Jena. Tahith Chong, who also scored last weekend, will also be counted on to lift Bremen this season.

Hertha were not as lucky in the Pokal, losing 5-4 to Bundesliga 2 side Eintracht Braunschweig. After a horror first half of last season, they did rally to finish 10th thanks to Bruno Labbadia righting the ship and Matheus Cunha and Krzysztof Piatek scoring on the pitch. Jhon Cordoba is expected to compete for a place up front this season. Lucas Tousart may also make his Bundesliga debut after arriving from Lyon. 

VfB STUTTGART vs. SC FREIBURG (Saturday at 8:30am)

Die Schwaben nabbed the second automatic promotion spot last season from Bundesliga 2. New Jersey-born Pellegrino Matarazzo will lead Stuttgart, but will have to make do on Saturday without top scorer from last season Nicolas Gonzalez who picked up a thigh injury in preseason. Former Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund man Gonzalo Castro will captain the side this season.

SC Freiburg just missed out on Europe after an eighth-place finish last season. Christian Streich begins his ninth season in the dugout, but will start dealing with injuries to players such as Janik Harberer and Mark Flekken. Luca Waldschmidt left for Benfica, but in comes Ermedin Demirovic from Spanish side Alaves. Nils Petersen is expected to be up front alongside Lucas Höler. 

BORUSSIA DORTMUND vs. BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH (Saturday at 11:30am)

Jadon Sancho remains at BVB for now. He was one of five goalscorers in Dortmund’s 5-0 win in the Pokal over Duisburg, last Monday. Also scoring was Gio Reyna as he and Sancho are only part of a potent attack force that has Earling Haaland (13 goals since coming in January) and the returning Marco Reus after missing seven months with injury. Their goal is to finally wrest the Meiterschale away from Bayern and return it to the Signal Iduna for the first time since 2012. 

The Foals will be playing Champions League football this season after an impressive fourth-place finish under new coach Marco Rose, last season. However, Gladbach lost all three matchups last year to BVB, 1-0. The Foals have their attacking trio of Lars Stindl, Marcus Thuram, and Alassane Plea; but the latter two have fitness issues coming into Saturday. They may be more reliant on defender Matthias Ginter and keeper Yann Sommer in this one. 

RB LEIPZIG vs. MAINZ 05 (Sunday at 8:30am)

Last season, Leipzig finished top heading into the Winter Break, but finished the season in third and 16 points behind eventual champion Bayern. However, they were the only ones to not lose to Bayern this calendar year so far and made it all the way to the Champions League semifinals in August. This year, can they get past that hurdle that is Bayern? They will have to do so without Timo Werner who moved to Chelsea. Hee-Chan Hwang will be counted on (along with Yussuf Poulsen) to fill that gap. Meanwhile, Tyler Adams is coming into his own in midfield. 

Jean-Philippe Mateta made up from lost time after missing the Ruckründe last season with a knee injury by scoring a hat trick in Mainz’s 5-1 win over Havelse in the Pokal. Robin Zentner will be the #1 between the sticks against the team that put eight past the 05ers last October. Robin Quaison led the club last season with 13 goals. 

VfL WOLFSBURG vs. BAYER LEVERKUSEN (Sunday at 11am) 

Wolfsburg will be returning to Europe with a seventh-place finish last season. Wout Weghorst led the team last season with 20 goals. They will be without Keevin Mbabu and William who are injured, but will be with Maxence Lacroix in defense alongside John Brooks. Wolfsburg downed Union Fürstenwalde, 4-1 in the Pokal, last weekend. 

Leverkusen will also be in the Europa League this season, but only after dropping out of the top four late last season allowing Gladbach to swoop in. Kai Havertz (Chelsea) and Kevin Volland (Monaco) are gone while Patrick Schick arrives from AS Roma. Alongside hime could be 17-year old Florian Wirtz who became the Bundesliga’s youngest goal scorer last season for Die Werkself. 

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