By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Image@BayernMunich.
A third straight Matchday 1 defeat has VfB Stuttgart bottom of the Bundesliga table for the first time since April 2023, when Sebastian Hoeneß – currently the division’s longest-serving head coach – took over. 1. FC Köln got off to a winning start for the second year running thanks to a debut double from Thijs Dallinga. The Dutchman is the first Billy Goats player ever to score twice as a substitute on his Bundesliga debut and the league’s first since Erling Haaland.
Carles Martínez takes charge of Bayer 04 Leverkusen at home for the first time looking to avoid becoming only the second Werkself coach to lose his first two Bundesliga fixtures. Mauro Lustrinelli is also still looking for his first three points in the German top flight, but 1. FC Union Berlin have never won in Leverkusen in nine attempts.
SV Werder Bremen have now gone 13 years without a win on Matchday 1 and are at risk of losing their first two games of a Bundesliga season for the ninth time. RB Leipzig made a perfect start under Martín Demichelis with a 3-0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach in which Christopher Nkunku made his second debut. Marc Guiu has since arrived for further firepower.
TSG Hoffenheim will need to improve on their record of only two wins from their last 12 Bundesliga meetings with Borussia Dortmund if they are to avoid con secutive losses to start the season for the first time since 2015. They will also have to find a way through 2025-26’s meanest defence, which again allowed the fewest opposition shots on Matchday 1 (eight).
SV Elversberg have the chance to become only the sixth Bundesliga debutant (excluding the maiden season) to win their first two games at this level. Their only previous encounter with Borussia Mönchengladbach came in the DFB-Pokal when still in the Regionalliga in December 2020, losing 5-0.
SC Freiburg have won their opening four competitive fixtures of the season for the first time at professional level, but they are the only current Bundesliga club against whom SC Paderborn have a positive record in the first division (W2, D1, L1). Paderborn’s starting XI on opening weekend was the youngest they have ever fielded in the Bundesliga (24.1 years on average).
FC Schalke 04 host top-flight football for the first time in three years as the sec ond division champions welcome Bundesliga title holders and early pace-setters FC Bayern München. It is potentially the last homecoming of his career for Gel senkirchen native Manuel Neuer, who reached 600 Bayern appearances on Matchday 1. The goalkeeper was in the last Schalke team to beat Bayern in the Bundesliga, even helping set up a goal in the 2-0 home win way back in December 2010.
Hamburger SV and 1. FSV Mainz 05 are among the five teams yet to score this season. HSV needed four games to get off the mark last term; the 05ers the same number to get their first win. Sunday’s hosts have won only two out of nine home fixtures in 2026, while Mainz havent’ lost on the road in six games.
FC Augsburg have made their best start ever to a Bundesliga season thanks to their 3-0 win over Schalke, keeping a clean sheet on Matchday 1 for the first time.
Noah Atubolu conceded three on his Eintracht Frankfurt debut as their defensive issues continued, but Younes Ebnoutalib’s hat-trick – the first by a Frankfurt player in the league since 2018 – shows that Sunday’s hosts will test their visitors ‘resolve.