The DFL (German Football League Association) has released the fixtures for the upcoming 2015/16 Bundesliga campaign.
Historic duel in the first game
Like always, the champions FC Bayern München open the season with their first home match on Friday evening. This year, Bayern face Hamburger SV. Bruno Labbadia’s team fought against relegation until the last minute in a white-knuckle game against 2. Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC, eventually retaining their status in Germany's top flight.
Dortmund face Gladbach
Furthermore on the first match day, which is played on the weekend from the 14th to 16th of August, promoted SV Darmstadt welcome Hannover 96 as their first guests. The 2. Bundesliga winner from last season, FC Ingolstadt, will be playing an away game at Mainz 05, Werder Bremen will host Schalke 04, FC Augsburg play at home against Hertha BSC.
1. FC Köln’s fans will have to travel to VfB Stuttgart for their first game of the season, and last year’s second-placed finishers - and German cup winners - VfL Wolfsburg, will host Eintracht Frankfurt. Bayer 04 Leverkusen welcome TSG 1899 Hoffenheim as their guests.
Maybe the most attractive game on matchday one is the duel between Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Signal Iduna Park.
Only two "English weeks"
A change to the previous Bundesliga campaign had already been announced before the fixture release: only one “English week” (matches on Tuesday or Wednesday) per half-year will be played to avoid exhaustion.
Revierderby on matchday 12, Rheinderby on 6
The famous Revierderby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 will be played on 12th match day at the Signal Iduna Park, and the return game will take place on 29th match day at Schalke. Dortmund and Bayern will face on match day 8, which will be played somewhere between the 2nd and 4th of October.
The Rheinderby between 1. FC Köln and Borussia Mönchengladbach will be played on match day 6 (18th – 20th September). The promoted teams Darmstadt 98 and FC Ingolstadt will face at the Schanzer’s stadium on match day 13 - from the 20th to 22nd of October, in what promises to be another exciting campaign.