On Friday evening, in the Esprit Arena, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Eintracht Braunschweig will get the 40th 2.Bundesliga season underway. This season will be as exciting as ever, with Nürnberg and Braunschweig dropping down to join last year's teams. Along with the two relegated Bundesliga sides: Heidenheim, Darmstadt and Red Bull Leipzig will join Germany's second division. A massive variation in experience, club size and in player quality, it's still not clear who'll go up or go down; eagerly awaiting the start, with bated breath, would be an understatement.
Friday: Fortuna Düsseldorf - Eintracht Braunschweig
The first game of the season will involve two of the favourites for promotion. Fortuna improved greatly under Oliver Reck last season, including a run that seen them reach sixth, his charges lost just three times in eighteen 2.Bundesliga games since he took the reigns. After making Charlison Benschop's move permanent and adding Sergio da Silva Pinto, Lukas Schmitz and Lars Unnerstall, Fortuna will look to make a return to the Bundesliga. A string of impressive performances in pre-season, along with side the team looking strong in most positions, the Flingeraner may just be looking forward to spending another in the top flight.
Braunschweig will also be hopeful of a speedy return to the big time. Thorsten Lieberknecht has remained at the helm and, despite losing key players, has the knowledge and experience to get the Lions promoted once more. Domi Kumbela, Omar Elabdellaoui, Ermin Bicakcic and Daniel Davari have all left for pastures new, but they will remain hopeful that the team, who are extremely experienced in the 2.Bundesliga, can aim for a high finish. The game against Düsseldorf will be a great indicator to how Braunschweig, and the hosts themselves, will perform in the weeks and months ahead and whether they can push for promotion or not.
Saturday: Red Bull Leipzig - VfR Aalen
One of the most talked about clubs in recent times, Red Bull Leipzig, gained promotion to the 2.Bundesliga after five years of existence. The club is so unpopular around Germany, that even Hoffenheim are more appreciated. However, Alexander Zorniger has assembled a young, talented and attacking side that will be great to look; with the likes of Federico Palacios Martínez, Rani Khedira and Joshua Kimmich all rising stars of the German game. After signing Massimo Bruno, for a 2.Bundesliga record fee of €9million, he won't be featuring for Leipzig this year as he was loaned straight to the Salzburg franchise. Terrance Boyd will not be leading the line for the East German side on Saturday, after picking up a knee injury. However, when he is fit again, his goals and a mix of youth and experience, many people expect the marmite club to attain a top nine finish.
Aalen, one of the smaller clubs in the league, are into their fourth year of 2.Bundesliga football. A promising summer of transfers followed an 11th place finish last term, with the club looking to build stability and remain in the league. Solid, if unspectacular, Aalen conceded just one more goal than third placed Fürth, but do struggle to find the back of the net and Collin Quaner's signing will try to amend that. However, confidence is high for another mid-table finish this coming season, a possible upset could be on the cards with Terrance Boyd missing. It'll be interesting to see how well the 12 new signings gel and if any make it straight into the starting line-up.
St. Pauli - Ingolstadt
One of the country's most atmospheric clubs, St. Pauli, will be aiming to kick-start their season with a win against Ingolstadt. While they have a few stand-out players, such as Marc Rzatkowski and Lasse Sobiech, the squad depth is some-what lacking. However, the aim will be to push towards the top six this term. The club, who have a long standing rivalry with Hamburg, will be itching to get another crack at Bundesliga football after the disappointment of a last place finish in 2011. Despite losing fan favourite, Fin Bartels, additions to the defence and midfield should see another strong season for die Freibeuter.
Ingolstadt finished 10th last year, an impressive feat after an absolutely appalling start. So poor was the start, that it seen them collect just four points in the opening nine games. The loss of Cauiby and Philipp Hofmann will also be a blow, but Ingolstadt should be in for a positive season. The Bavarian club have signed Mathew Leckie, Danny da Costa and Benjamin Hübner, three fantastic signings and will surely push them towards their first top-half finish in the club's history. A sturdy midfield and plenty of options in attack, means 'die Schanzer' could prove to be many teams' bogey side this term.
VfL Bochum - Greuther Fürth
Bochum will be hoping for a much better season than last, after avoiding the relegation play-off place by a meager four points. A summer full of change has followed, with 12 players coming in and 15 leaving, including a host of established first team players. However, Bochum have replenished well. A host of fantastic youth players have been officially promoted, Simon Terodde, Marco Terrazzino and Timo Perthel are all great acquisitions. Most exciting for the Ruhr side, is the return of Stanislav Šesták, the Slovakian striker will be hoping to make another big impact and possibly fire Bochum to a top-half finish.
Fürth, who missed out on promotion due to an away goals rule defeat to Hamburg, are desperate to go one better this year. The side who finished third last term have lost many key players: Zoltán Stieber, Nikola Đurđić and Niclas Füllkrug have all moved onto pastures new, but have replaced most of them with similar-style players. A top two finish is not out of reach, especially with a sturdy defence and the return of fan favourite Stephan Schröck, but a new look Bochum could spring a surprise on matchday 1.
Sunday: Darmstadt - Sandhausen
The Lilies were promoted in the most dramatic of circumstances last term, scoring a last minute goal to secure promotion against Ariminia Bielefeld. Christian Wetklo, Maurice Exslager and Fabian Holland have been brought in to add more experience into a side that hasn't been in Germany's second division for over 10 years. The main aim is to secure a place in the division for next season, with the belief carried through from that momentous 2-4 victory, who knows what is possible for Dirk Schuster's men.
Sandhausen are in form another season of mediocrity, it seems. Losing Danny Blum isn't a great way to begin the year; but with Kevin Kratz and Alexander Bieler's arrivals, there is some hope yet. The presence of Austrian enforcer, Stefan Kulovits, in the middle of midfielder will be vital to any successes Alois Schwartz's charges enjoy. Staying up will be the goal for both of these sides, and a win to start the season would be a great momentum boost.
Heidenheim - FSV Frankfurt
Heidenheim will enter their first season of 2.Bundesliga football on Sunday. The winners of last year's 3.Liga are a tough challenge for any opponent, but while they may lack in some areas, their fight to stay in the second division means that every point will be fought for with great gusto. Marc Schnatterer is the side's captain and he'll need to be at his best if Heidenheim are to get off to a winning start; with three promotions in six years since their reformation, the club will be looking to cement themselves as a 2.Bundesliga side before moving onto bigger and better things. The signing of several youngsters, including last year's loanee Kevin Kraus and Schalke's Robert Leipertz, suggest they are building for the future.
FSV Frankfurt are up against it this season, losing Mathew Leckie was a massive blow. However, Nils Teixeira and Tim Heubach are gone from the defence, along with Michael Görlitz leaving for St. Pauli, it'll be a struggle from game one. However, Alexander Bittroff and Vincenzo Griffo's arrivals go some way to easing the pain. Benno Möhlmann would probably be more than happy for a repeat of their 13th placed finish again this term, just avoiding relegation if the norm for the Bornheimer, who only once have finished higher than last year's position.
Nürnberg - Erzgebirge Aue
Nürnberg are looking for an immediate return to the Bundesliga, after a very disappointing previous season. Former Bundesliga player, Valérien Ismaël, is now the manager and has made some excellent signings after the mass exodus at 'der Club'. Danny Blum, Jakub Sylvestr, Niclas Füllkrug and Peniel Mlapa will add strength to an attack that lost it's only tooth, in the form of Josip Drmic, this summer. A series of defenders and midfielders have also been brought in that should see them make an immediate return to the big time.
Aue seem set for another season in the mid-table region, despite making some impressive moves this summer. They replaced the loss of key-man Jakub Sylvestr, to their matchday 1 opponents, with Estonian striking duo Hannes and Henri Anier. It'll be difficult to replace their previous top goal-scorer, but with the additions Stipe Vučur and Thorsten Schulz to the defence, they'll be looking to improve on last season's 14th place finish. A game against, arguably, the title favourites will probably be a step too far for the East German side.
Karlsruher - Union Berlin
Karlsruher were one of the surprise packages last season, after winning the 3.Liga they finished 5th. Mainly due to their formidable defence, Philipp Klingmann played a staring role, as KSC conceded the third least amount of goals in the league. Jonas Meffert, Philipp Max and Florian Stritzel have been added as promising Bundesliga youngsters, as Karlsruher aim to reach the dizzying heights of the Bundesliga once more. Goals, however, are a problem; it'll be interesting to see how the same group of attackers fare this season.
It also looks like Union Berlin are in for another solid season of 2.Bundesliga football. The capital club have undergone very little change during the summer, Christopher Trimmel being the main addition; losing Patrick Kohlmann and Simon Terodde are both big misses, but they should be able to cope. Sören Brandy is an exciting player and Bajram Nebihi's acquisition from Augsburg should hold them in good stead. A win on Sunday would be a great start for Norbert Düwel, but it does seem that Karlsruher will claim all three points.
Monday: Kaiserslautern - 1860 Munich
The final game of the matchday is a massive one, as two of the league's biggest clubs face each other. Kaiserslautern are well set up to mount a serious challenge on the top three this year, despite the loss of Simon Zoller. Philipp Hofmann should prove to be a more than able replacement for Zoller, the additions of André Fomitschow and Tim Heubach should also aid their cause this year. 'Die roten Teufel' will get a good indication of where they lie in terms of promotion chances, with the game against 1860 Munich.
Their Bavarian opponents lost four vital players, as Andreas Ludwig, Yuya Osako, Moritz Stoppelkamp and Benjamin Lauth all left the club. However, the arrivals of Ilie Sánchez, Edu Bedia, Rubin Okotie and Gary Kagelmacher have turned heads away from a negative stand point. The squad should thrive this season, with ambitious boss Ricardo Moniz at the helm, the lions could make a surprise return to the plateau of German football.