The summer break was short: The Bundesliga starts its new season on Friday. There are a few changes waiting for the fans. This is the most important information about the new season.
Champions Bayer Leverkusen will open the Bundesliga season this Friday (8.30 p.m./DAZN and Sat.1) with a match against Borussia Mönchengladbach. FC Bayern will, unusually, only start their match against Wolfsburg on Sunday. Fans can look forward to an exciting season with new features and special dates.
Where can you watch the Bundesliga live on TV?
In order to watch all the games live on screen, fans need several streaming subscriptions. The pay-TV channel Sky will show the games on Saturday (3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.), and the afternoon matches will also be shown in the conference.
The games on Friday (8.30 p.m.) and Sunday (3.30 p.m., 5.30 p.m., a maximum of ten times per season also at 7.30 p.m.) will be broadcast by the streaming service DAZN. The free-TV channel Sat.1 will show the opening game, one game each on matchdays 15 and 16, and the relegation games.
What rule changes are there?
The most striking will be the so-called captain’s rule, which was successfully introduced at the European Championships in the summer: if there is a need to discuss things with the referee, only the captain is allowed to speak to the umpire. Times when a group of players would talk to the referee should thus be a thing of the past. The referees are not so keen to hear that this innovation is also referred to as the “complaining rule”. The Bundesliga does not yet have a chip in the ball with a kind of ECG for ball contact, as is the case in the European Championship games.
What are the special features of the calendar?
There are 15 match days before Christmas, the last of which ends two days before Christmas Eve. After a short winter break, the season continues on January 10th, followed by the only English week of the season on January 14th and 15th. However, there is still plenty of football played during the week: the reform of the European cup competitions means that there are significantly more international matches on the schedule. On January 29th, a Wednesday, 18 matches will be played in parallel in the Champions League at 9 p.m. The five German starters are Bayer Leverkusen, VfB Stuttgart, FC Bayern, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund.
What has happened with the teams?
Two of the top five teams from last season have a new coach on the sidelines. At Bayern, Belgian Vincent Kompany is supposed to make the past season with Thomas Tuchel and no title forgotten. At Borussia Dortmund, former professional Nuri Sahin was promoted to head coach. There has also been a lot happening on the transfer market.
The dethroned Bayern invested over 100 million euros in Michael Olise and João Palhinha, among others. BVB brought in Serhou Guirassy and Waldemar Anton from VfB Stuttgart, so the Swabians also had to invest. RB Leipzig has to compensate for the departure of Dani Olmo to FC Barcelona. It will also be exciting to see how the promoted players from Holstein Kiel and FC St. Pauli perform in the Bundesliga.
Who has what it takes to be the star player of the season?
Last season, there was a lot of talk about the young German national players Jamal Musiala (21/FC Bayern) and Florian Wirtz (21/Bayer Leverkusen). Both were already described as “magicians” by national coach Julian Nagelsmann, both stayed with their clubs and are going into the season without any major injury concerns. And what else? Can the 22-year-old Frenchman Michael Olise also shine for Bayern after winning the silver medal at the Olympic Games? The Spaniard Aleix García (27) came to Leverkusen after a strong season with FC Girona in Spain. Deniz Undav (28/VfB Stuttgart), Harry Kane (31/FC Bayern) and Serhou Guirassy (28/Borussia Dortmund) know exactly where the goal is. The fans of RB Leipzig were happy that Xavi Simons (21) was able to be loaned out again.
Who will be German champion?
Record national player Lothar Matthäus recently said that there was no way around defending champion Leverkusen – and the 63-year-old is by no means alone in this opinion. After years in which the answer was always: “FC Bayern will win”, the title race seems more open this season. Behind Leverkusen and the Munich team, Dortmund and Leipzig are also waiting for their chance. Despite the departure of key players, VfB Stuttgart can be expected to spring another surprise.
Source: Stern
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