Will Bayern Munich set themselves up to win a fourth consecutive German football title? Will Thomas Tuchel acquit himself well as the new manager for Borussia Dortmund? Will Wolfsburg improve upon last year's solid run to return to the top of the table? All these questions and others are on the minds of German football fans as the start date for the 2015 2016 Bundesliga season approaches. At the end of June, the German league announced the various Bundesliga opening day fixtures 2015 - 2016, which is scheduled for August 14th. Unlike the Premier League, which pretty much scheduled all of its best teams against notably weaker entities, there are some very interesting, competitive draws in the bunch for Bundesliga opening day this year. Read on to see the various match-ups, as well as to get our commentary about what kind of outcomes might be anticipated.

The Big Games

While August 14th will see nine different Bundesliga fixtures going off at roughly the same time, there are a few isolated matches that will be getting the majority of the attention, just by virtue of the teams they feature.

The first of these, of course, is the match between Bayern Munich and Hamburger SV. If there's a 100% safe bet on the opening day schedule this year, this is it. For one thing, this game is a battle between the top team from the 2014 2015 campaign, and a club that only narrowly avoided relegation. (Hamburg finished in the bottom three on the 2014 2015 table, but successfully defended their spot in the league through a successful relegation playoff run.) For another thing, Bayern Munich will have the home field advantage-an advantage that netted the team an 8-0 victory against Hamburg last season. Call this one a foregone conclusion.

Considerably more exciting will be the match that pits Borussia Dortmund against Borussia Monchengladbach. Dortmund may have finished all the way back at seventh last season (Monchengladbach ended up in third), but the football club is still just a year removed from a runner-up finish, and just three years removed from a Bundesliga title. Furthermore, with Mainz 05 coach Thomas Tuchel stepping in to replace the venerated Jurgen Klopp at the helm, it will just be interesting to see what the new version of Borussia Dortmund looks like. We'll go out on a limb here and predict a return to glory for the Black and Yellows.

The opening day match between Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt should also be interesting. Even in their runner-up campaign in 2014 2015, Wolfsburg couldn't beat Frankfurt, drawing with the soccer squad in both home and away fixtures. The Wolves are still the favorites to win on opening day, especially with the home field advantage on their side, but don't be surprised if the match ends in a stalemate.

Other Fixtures

The three fixtures discussed above will likely be getting most of the press on opening day, but read on for a quick review of the other games on the schedule!

Mainz 05 vs. FC Ingolstadt: A team dealing with the departure of their manager (Mainz), against a club recently promoted from 2. Bundesliga (Ingolstadt). We'll bet on the home team, but this one could go either way.

Stuttgart vs. Koln: Stuttgart and Koln had similar records last season, both winning nine games apiece and both avoiding relegation by a matter of just a few points. Koln beat Stuttgart at home in one of the first games of last season, though, so it wouldn't be surprising to see a similar outcome this year.

Darmstadt vs. Hannover 96: Darmstadt is the second of the two football clubs promoted up from 2. Bundesliga this year, while Hannover 96 finished at unlucky number 13 in the 2014 2015 Bundesliga. Our guess? This one will be a draw.

Werder Bremen vs. Schalke 04: Schalke had a solid season in 2014 2015, ending the year in sixth place, but also fell apart down the home stretch, losing eleventh hour matches against Mainz, Koln, and Hamburger. Odds are they'll rally to beat the wearers of the Werder Bremen jersey 2015 2016 on opening day, but no outcome would be surprising here.

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hoffenheim: As a top-four soccer squad from the 2014 2015 campaign, Bayer Leverkusen should win this one handily. Plus, they beat Hoffenheim 2-0 in their second-to-last match of the season.

Augsburg vs. Hertha Berlin: Hertha BSC scored a surprise win over Augsburg in February, but the home team remains the safe bet here.

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