Bayern Munich will play host to Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga 2016/17 curtain-raiser on Aug. 26.
The fixtures for the coming season were confirmed by the German Football League on Wednesday.
New Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti will be looking to get last season’s double winners off to the best possible start as his team enjoy the traditional champions’ privilege of playing their first game of the season at home.
Last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund begin their campaign against Mainz at home, while Bundesliga new boys RB Leipzig will make their top-flight debut at Hoffenheim.
Dortmund face Schalke at Signal Iduna Park in the first Ruhr derby of the season on the weekend beginning Oct. 28 and are again at home against Bayern two weeks later for the first instalment of `Der Klassiker.’
Bundesliga 2016/17 fixtures, matchday 1:
Aug. 26:
Bayern Munich v Werder Bremen
Dates to be confirmed:
Borussia Dortmund v Mainz
Borussia Moenchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen
Hertha Berlin v Freiburg
Cologne v Darmstadt
SV Hamburg v Ingolstadt
Augsburg v VfL Wolfsburg
Hoffenheim v RB Leipzig
Eintracht Frankfurt v Schalke (dpa/NAN