Established in 1963, the Bundesliga league is the top-flight soccer tournament which takes place in Germany. The founding members of this were Werder Bremen, Schalke 04, FC Koln, Hertha BSC, Hamburger SV, Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart. Also, they have most recently welcomed RB Leipzig back in 2016. With such a fantastic mix of teams, this league is most definitely one to look out for this season.

With the beginning of the 2018/19 fixtures just around the corner, we wanted to put together this article to explore the scheduling of the games. From who has the best stakes at getting to the final, to how the overall tournament could turn out, this post covers it.

Fixtures and Notable Dates

The beginning of this year’s tournament kicks off on the 24th August 2018 and is expected to end on the 18th May 2019. Starting off the fixtures, current Champions Bayern Munich play in their home grounds at Allianz Stadium against Hoffenheim. And the last match scheduled is Eintracht Frankfurt against Bayern Munich.

From the results seen in 17/18, the top 5 teams were Bayern Munich, Schalke 04, Hoffenheim, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen. Below is a breakdown of all of the matches featuring these top teams battling it out against one another. So, make sure you make a note of these dates as they are most definitely key games to look out for this season.

  • Bayern Munich – 24/08/18, 1/09/18, 15/09/18, 22/09/18, 10/11/18, 19/01/19, 2/02/19, 09/02/19, 06/04/19
  • Schalke 04 – 22/09/18, 1/12/18, 08/12/18, 19/12/18, 09/02/19, 20/4/19, 27/04/19, 11/05/19
  • Hoffenheim – 24/08/18, 15/09/18, 22/09/18, 1/12/18, 08/12/18, 19/01/19, 09/02/19, 30/03/19, 20/04/19
  • Borussia Dortmund – 22/09/18, 29/09/18, 3/11/18, 10/11/18, 09/02/19, 23/02/19, 06/04/19, 27/04/19
  • Bayer Leverkusen – 15/09/18, 29/09/18, 3/11/18, 19/12/18, 2/02/19, 23/02/19, 30/03/19, 11/05/19

Expectations of the Season

When reviewing how the top 10 teams performed in the previous season they are all very close, which makes this new tournament something that shouldn’t be missed. The winners Bayern Munich won a total of 27 matches which were miles ahead of the other teams in the lesser places, which means that we could be looking at another win for the club if they maintain their previous performance.

Looking at the other teams they were all so close together when it came to the total of matches they had won, which if this is to happen again this season, there is most definitely hungry competition looming. Below is a quick breakdown of this:

  • 18 Wins – Schake 04
  • 15 Wins – Hoffenheim, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, VfB Stuttgart
  • 14 Wins – Eintracht Frankfurt
  • 13 Wins – Borussia Monchengladbach
  • 10 Wins – Hertha Berlin, Werder Bremen, FC Augsburg, Hanover 96
  • <10 Wins – Mainz 05, Freiburg, Wolfsburg, Hamburg, Koln

Despite these figures, the transfer window is still currently open, and it is not rumoured to close until 31st August. How these dates have been decided this year is instead of them all terminating on the same day, the windows for every league have been staggered which means some get to make the decision sooner to secure the best players. And as there is still plenty of time to bag new stars, we could most certainly see a considerable change in how the club’s played last season to how it could pan out in 2018/19.

Team Promotions and Relegations

At the end of every season in the German football leagues, two teams are promoted, and two teams are relegated from each tier. And for 2017/18 we saw the lowest scoring team’s Hamburg and Koln relegated down to 2.Bundesliga. However, it was a disappointment for fans to see them move down, it made room for two new up and coming teams to be promoted. And after placing first and second in the lower tier league, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Nürnberg were the clubs which we will see progress onto the top-flight Bundesliga league in 2018/19.

As this is the case, we thought we would briefly review how these clubs faired in the lower league to gauge how they will cope against the stronger teams in the Bundesliga. So below is a concise breakdown of each team and how they performed last season.

Fortuna Düsseldorf

Fortuna Düsseldorf placed 1st in the 2.Bundesliga which gained them their promotion. Looking at how they performed in 2017/18, they won a total of 19 matches which is very impressive when compared against those of the top teams in the current top league. And over-all they managed to net a total of 57 goals for the club but also saw 43 made against them so it was very close in that sense.

FC Nürnberg

Although Nürnberg acquired second place in the tournament, they definitely had a considerably better goal ratio compared to first place winners – Fortuna. Overall they won 17 matches, but within these they achieved an outstanding total of 61 goals for the club. And on the flip side there were only 39 against, which is a better goal difference to their closest rival.

How Do You Think the Bundesliga Tournament Will Go?

Above we have explored the ins and outs of what we can expect moving forward within the Bundesliga soccer league. From the introduction of the two promoted teams to the most notable matches of the previous top ten clubs, we have covered all basis. With all that in mind though, it’s time for us to hear your opinions on this topic.

And to get in touch all you would need to do is follow us on social media and interact with us and other soccer fans from across the world. Join the online community today and discuss everything football all in one place. You can also display your support for the current Champions by purchasing their latest Bayern Munich soccer jerseys from the team’s page over at Soccer Box. And we also stock a wide range of other Bundlesliga team apparel which can be found within their respective category.

This article was written exclusively for Soccer Box by Loren Astbury