The Bundesliga's top 5 season-opening fixtures
All has been revealed! Bayern Munich will visit Werder Bremen in the first game of the 2023/24 Bundesliga season on 18 August. Opening-day fixtures are always must-see events, but how have they played out in the recent past? bundesliga.com picks out five of the best...
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Opening-day fixtures are always must-see events, but how have they played out in the recent past? bundesliga.com picks out five of the best...
2022/23 - Eintracht Frankfurt 1-6 Bayern Munich
The UEFA Europa League holders against the defending Bundesliga champions - but Bayern made it look more like men against boys. Sadio Mane scored on his Bundesliga debut - one of five first-half goals without reply for Julian Nagelsmann's team at the Deutsche Bank Park. Randal Kolo Muani restored a modicum of pride with a well-taken riposte from the bench - his first of 15 Bundesliga goals in his debut Bundesliga season - but Bayern had the last laugh as Mane set up a second Jamal Musiala effort to seal a 6-1 victory. The record champions went on to win a 12th successive Bundesliga title, albeit overtaking Borussia Dortmund on a dramatic final day, on goal difference.
Watch: Frankfurt 1-6 Bayern - highlights
2021/22 - Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-1 Bayern Munich
Unlike the Frankfurt romp, Nagelsmann's first-ever Bundesliga match at the Bayern helm was anything but a cakewalk. Falling behind to a 10th-minute Alassane Plea goal away to bogey team Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayern were denied time and again by Yann Sommer, before Robert Lewandowski broke the Swiss stopper's resistance late in an all-action first half. Sommer prevented Lewandowski from doubling his tally, while Manuel Neuer had to be alert to efforts from Lars Stindl and Hannes Wolf. Further chances came and went for Marcus Thuram and Stindl as Bayern were denied maximum opening-day returns for the second time in three years, having drawn 2-2 with Hertha Berlin on Matchday 1 of 2019/20. They still ended both campaigns as champions, though.
Watch: Gladbach 1-1 Bayern - highlights
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2020/21 - Bayern Munich 8-0 Schalke
Schalke had no such luck at Bayern's Allianz Arena in 2020/21. No team had ever scored more than six goals in a Matchday 1 fixture, but Bayern hit eight in a ominous display of muscle. Serge Gnabry set the tone inside four minutes, the Germany international sticking away the quickest Matchday 1 goal since 2002. Lewandowski and ex-Schalke man Leon Goretzka added their names to the scoresheet, with Gnabry completing his hat-trick with 31 minutes of normal time still remaining. Thomas Müller and Schalke old boy Leroy Sane continued the procession, before Musiala struck from the bench on a chastening start to a season that ended in relegation for the Royal Blues.
Watch: Bayern 8-0 Schalke - highlights
2017/18: Bayern Munich 3-1 Bayer Leverkusen
It was a night for the new boys as Bayern began their 2017/18 title defence in sizzling fashion. The red ballet were two up inside 20 minutes through goals from summer recruits Niklas Süle and Corentin Tolisso. History was made as VAR was later used for the first time in the Bundesliga, match referee Tobias Stieler consulting with the team of officials in Cologne to reverse a penalty decision, with Lewandowski sweeping in the resultant spot-kick. Admir Mehmedi pulled one back for Leverkusen, but the damage had long been done and the marker laid for a sixth straight title triumph. Bayer Leverkusen finished the season in fifth, missing out on a shot at UEFA Champions League qualification on goal difference.
Watch: Bayern 3-1 Leverkusen - highlights
2016/17: Bayern Munich 6-0 Werder Bremen
Bremen fans look away now! A night of utter despair for the Green-Whites, one of sheer delight for Bayern who gave new coach Carlo Ancelotti a winning start with what was, at the time, the biggest-ever opening game triumph. Xabi Alonso's breathtaking opener set the bar high for 2016/17, Lewandowski did likewise in the Torjägerkanone race with a hat-trick while Philipp Lahm's last Bundesliga goal was more than a mere footnote. It was the first of 25 league wins for Bayern, who ultimately finished some 15 points clear of the chasing pack. For their part, Bremen recovered sufficiently enough to mount a push for the European places, ranking eighth in the final standings.
Watch: Xabi Alonso's stunning season-opening goal
Opening-day fixtures at a glance*
2022: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-6 Bayern Munich
2021: Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-1 Bayern Munich
2020: Bayern Munich 8-0 Schalke
2019: Bayern Munich 2-2 Hertha Berlin
2018: Bayern Munich 3-1 Hoffenheim
2017: Bayern Munich 3-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Watch: The first goal of every season since 2017
2016: Bayern Munich 6-0 Werder Bremen
2015: Bayern Munich 5-0 Hamburg
2014: Bayern Munich 2-1 Wolfsburg
2013: Bayern Munich 3-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
2012: Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Werder Bremen
2011: Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Hamburg
2010: Bayern Munich 2-1 Wolfsburg
2009: Wolfsburg 2-0 VfB Stuttgart
2008: Bayern Munich 2-2 Hamburg
2007: VfB Stuttgart 2-2 Schalke
2006: Bayern Munich 2-0 Borussia Dortmund
2005: Bayern Munich 3-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
2004: Werder Bremen 1-0 Schalke
2003: Bayern Munich 3-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
2002: Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Hertha Berlin
*since the defending champions have started the new season with a standalone Friday night fixture.
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