18:23
The game will be directed by Dr. Felix Brych and his assistants Mark Borsch and Robert Kempter. The fourth official is Patrick Alt and the video images are evaluated by Pascal Müller and his assistant Mike Pickel.
18:19
Seven goals were scored in each of the two games last season. Dortmund won the first leg in Leverkusen 4-3, in the second half Bayer won 5-2 at BVB.
18:18
For the guests, the first thing to do is to process the bitter cup defeat in Elversberg and now focus on the league. “We were all very disappointed at the beginning of the week,” admitted Gerardo Seoane, but fortunately he was also able to say: “I sense a great desire and willingness in the team to show a significant improvement in performance on Saturday.” With the good feeling of having won the last game in Dortmund 5-2, the Rhinelanders want to start the match positively. “We’re really looking forward to BVB. Playing against a good team in this stadium is a great challenge that we’re happy to take on,” said Seoane.
18:05
BVB coach Edin Terzić was full of anticipation before the first home game in front of a full house. “I’m really looking forward to the game. It’s going to be loud,” said the 39-year-old, who also wants to send a signal to the competition today. “We are ready to set the first exclamation mark,” said Terzić. At the same time he warned the opposition: “Leverkusen have a very high tempo in attack. They were one of the strongest counterattacking teams last season.”
17:51
Bayer 04 Leverkusen also made significant gains in terms of personnel in the summer. On the one hand, the contracts with stars like Florian Witz and Patrik Schick could be extended despite various offers, on the other hand, with the 20-year-old offensive talent Adam Hložek from Sparta Prague, another top-class player was lured to the Rhine. However, the Werkself had to learn painfully that big names alone are no guarantee of victory. In the first round of the cup, Leverkusen lost sensationally 3: 4 at third division club Elversberg and are therefore already under pressure today if the euphoria from the summer break is not to go completely flat.
17:42
Borussia got off to a solid start to the season with a comfortable 3-0 victory in the cup at 1860 Munich. The new central defense made up of Niklas Süle and Nico Schlotterbeck was secure, and new signing Karim Adeyemi was able to put himself on the top scorers list. Those responsible at Black and Yellow are only worried about the long-term absence of the recently committed center forward Sébastien Haller (tumor disease). Recently, a top-class emergency solution such as Edinson Cavani or Memphis Depay has been traded in Dortmund, but so far nothing has happened in this regard.
17:40
A quick look at the line-ups: At BVB there is only one forced change. In central defence, Mats Hummels replaces Niklas Süle, who is suffering from muscular problems. On the other hand, after the embarrassing Palaus in Elversberg, Gerardo Seoane sends five new players onto the pitch. Kerem Demirbay, Karim Bellarabi, Exequiel Palacios, Piero Hincapié and Jonathan Tah start for Sardar Azmoun, Adam Hložek, Charles Aránguiz, Mitchel Bakker and Odilon Kossounou (all bench).
17:29
With Dortmund and Leverkusen, the two clubs that want to hunt down Bayern this season will face each other on the first matchday. After the record champions presented with a bang yesterday, today we get a first answer as to whether anyone can compete with Munich this season. Both BVB and Bayer 04 have strengthened their squad during the summer break and have expressly made it clear that they should look upwards.
17:29
Hello and welcome to the first Saturday game of the new Bundesliga season! Borussia Dortmund welcomes Bayer 04 Leverkusen at 6:30 p.m. at Signal-Iduna-Park!