By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Bayern Munich will look to maintain their stranglehold on the competition, aiming for their 12th straight Bundesliga title. The Bavarian side won last year’s edition by the slimmest of margins though, needing tiebreakers to give them the crown as they finished tied on points with Borussia Dortmund.
Bavarian giants travel to face Werder Bremen in the season opener on Friday, while Dortmund are at home against Köln on Saturday.
The arrival of superstar striker Harry Kane joining Thomas Tuchel’s Bavarian giants has set pulses racing. So much so, that when the lights come up on Friday night’s opening game between Bayern and SV Werder Bremen, the eyes of the world will be watching with anticipation.
England’s all-time top goalscorer arrived from Tottenham Hotspur last weekend to huge fanfare, and no sooner had Bayern’s new No. 9 put pen to paper, he was featuring in the Supercup curtain raiser against RB Leipzig. And what a welcome it was for the 30-year-old. A fan-roaring reception greeted his Allianz Arena entrance, but visitors Leipzig showed both Kane and Bayern the size of the task they will face as they look to defend their title again this season, the two-time DFB-Pokal holders running out 3-0 winners courtesy of a Dani Olmo hat-trick.
“As you saw with Leipzig, there are some great teams in this league and it’s going to be a real challenge,” Kane said. “I know people expect Bayern to win the league every year, but I think teams are improving and it’s getting tougher,” the three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner added.
Wearing the same number that Bayern and Bundesliga legend Robert Lewandowski donned during his record stay in Bavaria, Kane will be keen to reproduce some of the prolific Pole’s jaw-dropping numbers at his new club. “He will help us a lot; we need exactly his attitude,” coach Tuchel said of his latest signing, who joins fellow new arrivals Min-jae Kim, Konrad Laimer and Raphael Guerreiro at Bayern.
A tricky start at the Weserstadion awaits the defending champions, with Werder a side that features their own formidable forward in Niclas Füllkrug. The Germany international finished joint-top of the Bundesliga goalscoring charts last season and his battle to outscore Kane will be just one of a list of enticing facets of what is certain to be a mesmerising contest.
Just as attractive a Matchday 1 encounter features the newly crowned Supercup champions Leipzig and their trip to face one of last season’s most dynamic teams, Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Spanish tactician Xabi Alonso brought the Werkself from the relegation zone to a European finish by playing some of the division’s most attractive counter-attacking football last term, and a meeting with a swashbuckling Leipzig side featuring a plethora of exciting new signings, along with man-of-the-moment Dani Olmo, seems certain to entertain.
Meanwhile, last season’s runners-up, Borussia Dortmund, have strengthened their line-up with the arrivals of Ramy Bensebaini, Felix Nmecha and Marcel Sabitzer. Edin Terzic’s team pipped to the title by Bayern on the final day last term, will be eager to make up for that loss this time around. The Black-and-Yellows begin their Meisterschale tilt at home against 1. FC Köln on Saturday and – as always – Steffen Baumgart’s visiting Billy Goats will look to make life as tricky as possible for their hosts.
Bundesliga debutants 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 will provide plenty of excitement in the coming campaign. Frank Schmidt’s men earned their top-tier stripes by winning Bundesliga 2 in the most dramatic fashion on the final day of the 2022-23 season and their reward is a campaign-opener away to former Bundesliga winners VfL Wolfsburg. Elsewhere, newly promoted SV Darmstadt 98 begin with a trip to near neighbours Eintracht Frankfurt, who begin life under recently appointed coach Dino Toppmöller.
With renowned high-flyers 1. FC Union Berlin meeting 1. FSV Mainz 05, and Sport-Club Freiburg visiting TSG Hoffenheim among the other opening day games, we’re in for an unmissable Bundesliga start to 2023-24.