MUNICH -- The concept of a single standalone fixture -- das Eröffnungsspiel -- to usher in the new Bundesliga season after the long summer hiatus is a relatively new one, dating back only to 2002.

This showpiece Friday night event always features the defending champions and often takes place on their own pitch. However, in recent years, we have seen deviations with Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen , respectively, traveling to Borussia Mönchengladbach (2021 and 2024) and Bayern going to Eintracht Frankfurt (2022) and Werder Bremen (2023).

To kick off the 2025-26 season, Germany's Rekordmeister enjoys the initial home advantage in a potential tester against RB Leipzig . Not since 2020 and the days of lockdown and an 8-0 drubbing of Schalke 04 has the Allianz Arena pla

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