Bundesliga 2018-19 fixtures: Bayern to host Hoffenheim on opening week

Bayern Munich and new coach Niko Kovac will begin their Bundesliga title defence by hosting Hoffenheim when the 2018-19 season gets under way.

The fixtures for the new campaign were released on Friday, with Borussia Dortmund handed an eye-catching opening game at home to RB Leipzig and Schalke – last term’s runners-up – travelling to Wolfsburg.

Bayern’s clash with Hoffenheim – their first league game under former Eintracht Frankfurt boss Kovac – is due to kick off the season on Friday 24 August, with the remaining matches in the first matchweek taking place on August 25 and 26.

Newly promoted Fortuna Dusseldorf and Nurnberg will face Augsburg and Hertha Berlin respectively at the start of their campaigns.

The first Der Klassiker of the season will take place at Signal Iduna Park in matchday 11, across November 9-11, with the return leg at the Allianz Arena scheduled for early April.

Schalke host Bayern in the fourth matchday of the 2018-19 season and the first Revierderby of the campaign will see Borussia Dortmund travel to the Veltins Arena in December.

Hoffenheim boss Julian Nagelsmann, who has agreed to join RB Leipzig at the end of the 2018-19 season, faces off against his future employers on matchday six.

The season concludes on May 18 with Bayern Munich hosting Eintracht Frankfurt and Dortmund facing a potentially tough final fixture against Borussia Monchengladbach.

All dates are provisional until televised coverage is confirmed.

The full fixture table  #BundesligaSchedule pic.twitter.com/T08oiKmRfk

— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) June 29, 2018