🇩🇪 🔎 All you need to know about the new Bundesliga season | OneFootball

The Bundesliga kicks off on Friday with the reigning champions in action, as is tradition in Germany’s top flight.

But what do you absolutely have to know before the new campaign gets underway? We’ve got you covered.

🏆 Who are the title contenders?

Who do you think? Bayern Munich have added Harry Kane in their quest for a twelfth consecutive Bundesliga title and it would be an enormous surprise, especially now, if anyone can keep pace with Thomas Tuchel’s side.

Borussia Dortmund will be considered the likeliest of challengers again, with Marcel Sabitzer and Felix Nmecha arriving to replace Jude Bellingham and Ramy Bensebaini signed to take over from new Bayern left-back Raphaël Guerreiro. Whether they can recover from those exits, as well as the disappointment of missing out on the final day last season, remains to be seen.

RB Leipzig have also lost key names but will be hoping to build on winning the DFB-Pokal back in June and then DFL-Supercup last week. They won the most points in the league (61) after Marco Rose was appointed last season.

The other side who could be considered outsiders are Bayer Leverkusen as Xabi Alonso leads them into his first full campaign in the dugout.

A repeat of the form that saw Union Berlin finish in the top four last season would be an enormous success for the capital club but a title charge will surely be too much, as it proved to be last season.

📈 Who are the newly promoted clubs?

Last season’s 2. Bundesliga title was won by 1. FC Heidenheim on an incredible final day of drama in the second tier. Heidenheim entered the day hoping to go up by at least equalling Hamburg’s result but likely expecting league leaders SV Darmstadt to clinch the league, only for them to lose 4-0 at Greuther Fürth.

Ex-player Frank Schmidt never planned on staying beyond accepting an interim role in 2007 but remains in the dugout and has now overseen an incredible rise from the fifth tier of German football.

Back in 2008, Heidenheim were playing in Germany’s fifth tier, now they’ll brush shoulders with the big boys.

Darmstadt had already sealed promotion before that final day hiccup. They only scored 50 goals last season — seven teams scored more and it was significantly less than Heidenheim (67) and Hamburg (70) — but they conceded just 33, boasting the best defence in the second tier.

A shock 3-0 defeat to fourth-tier FC 08 Homburg in the cup on Monday is not how they would have wanted to kick off their campaign.

👔 Have there been any managerial changes since last season?

Some of Germany’s most historied clubs will be looking for a boost after making changes in the dugout.

Dino Toppmöller is the new man in charge at 2022 Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt. A former assistant to Julian Nagelsmann who briefly played for Frankfurt 20 years ago and won three league titles as a head coach in Luxembourg is likely to serve up some attack-minded football.

Borussia Mönchengladbach have made a change too, bringing in Gerardo Seoane to replace Daniel Farke. Formerly of Young Boys, Seoane enjoyed a successful 2021/22 campaign with Bayer Leverkusen but was fired after a very slow start last season. He’ll be hoping for a better campaign as he brings a more aggressive brand of football to Gladbach than they had last season.

🤑 Most interesting transfers

5️⃣ fixtures to look out for 📆

August 19: Leverkusen v Leipzig

November 4: Dortmund v Bayern

February 24: Bayern v RB Leipzig

March 9: Gladbach v Köln

April 27: Leipzig v Dortmund

Best new kits 👕

Home: Werder Bremen

Away: Bayer Leverkusen

And now you’re all set for kick-off!