First pairings known
© Imago
This article was first published on June 26, 2025 at 9:36 a.m. and was supplemented by further encounters announced beforehand.
The German champion FC Bayern Munich opens the 63rd season of the Bundesliga with a home game against RB Leipzig with new coach Ole Werner. This was announced by the German Football League (DFL) one day before the entire game plan was published. The game will take place on August 22nd at 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast by the Pay TV broadcaster Sky and Free TV from Sat.1. Eintracht Frankfurt and Werder Bremen also meet on the first matchday. On Thursday, the two promoters HSV and 1. FC Köln were allowed to announce one game in advance. The DFB then published the complete game plan on Friday.
It is a premiere for the Leipziger: for the first time they are part of a Bundesliga opening game. The Munich team, who won their 34th championship title in the past season, have been there for the 16th time since 2002. FCB’s balance sheet is impressive: so far there have been 13 wins and three draws. The Munich team won 5-1 against the rivals from Saxony last season.
A few hours later, the DFL officially made another game of the opening match day: Champions League participant Eintracht Frankfurt meets at home on Werder Bremen. In addition, the former north-south summit between Bavaria and Bundesliga returnor Hamburger SV was scheduled for the third matchday and co-promoters 1. FC Köln will play on the Mardi Gras on Mardi Gras (February 13th to 15th, 2026) at VfB Stuttgart. The encounter Bavaria against HSV had last existed in the 120th edition in the Bundesliga in March 2018.
Advantage Leipzig? The summer break for Bavaria will be short
The season preparation is unusual for the team of Bavaria’s master coach Vincent Kompany this year. The Munich team currently plays the club World Cup in the USA. On Sunday (10:00 p.m./Sat.1 and DAZN) the German record champion in Miami will meet Flamengo Rio de Janeiro in the round of 16, Brazil’s currently strongest team (everything about the club World Cup).
The preparation for the 2025/26 season depends on the performance of the team in the further course of the tournament. The break will not be too long. Already on August 7th, the FCB will play the Telekom Cup against Tottenham Hotspur. On August 16, the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup at Cup winner VfB Stuttgart.
Starting with the first league game of the 2025/26 season in Munich, Sky will broadcast all Friday games of the Bundesliga live in the next four years. The payment channel broadcasts 538 of the 617 encounters in the upper house and the 2nd league live – in addition to the Friday evening game, all Saturday games of the Bundesliga including the “Top Game of the Week” in the evening at 6:30 p.m. The Bundesliga conference on Saturday will be shown by DAZN in the future. The streaming service also shows all the Bundesliga Sunday games.