Five things to look out for on Matchday 2
The Bundesliga is back… again, with Germany's top flight returning to action after an 11-day hiatus for international fixtures.
Plenty of thrills and spills are in store, so bundesliga.com has rounded up what to keep an eye out for on Matchday 2.
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Sanches in line for Bayern debut
The action kicks off with a cracker on Friday evening, as FC Schalke 04 host defending champions FC Bayern München. Coach Carlo Ancelotti announced at his pre-match press conference that Bayern summer signing Renato Sanches "is 100 per cent fit", and the Portuguese teenager could make his Bundesliga bow in midfield in a fixture that is guaranteed to have goals: only one of the 92 Bundesliga meetings between the teams has ended in a goalless draw.
Chicharito is back!
Bayer 04 Leverkusen had to make do without talismanic striker Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez in their 2-1 defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 1 after the Mexico international broke his hand in an accident at home. However, the 28-year-old returned to full training over the international break and should return to the line-up on Saturday. Hamburger SV beware…
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Tradition meets modernity
Bundesliga debutants RB Leipzig face a stern test of their top-flight mettle on Saturday evening when they welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Red Bull Arena. While the visitors were founded in 1909, Leipzig did not come into being until 100 years later – and yet the two clubs share a common attribute: a commitment to attacking football. Having shone for the USMNT over the past week, Christian Pulisic is pushing for a place in BVB's starting XI, but in Ousmane Dembele, Andre Schürrle, Mario Götze, Emre Mor and Shinji Kagawa, coach Thomas Tuchel is not exactly short of options in attacking midfield…
Darmstadt debut in Jonathan Heimes stadium
It will be an emotional afternoon for SV Darmstadt 98 on Saturday. Not only will they lock horns with fierce local rivals Eintracht Frankfurt – traditionally the bigger brother of the two sides – it will also be their first game in the recently renamed Jonathan-Heimes-Stadion am Böllenfalltor stadium, so-called in honour of an inspirational fan who passed away earlier this year.
Gladbach away to bogey team Freiburg
The 2016/17 season could hardly have started more positively for Borussia Mönchengladbach. Andre Schubert's men have won all four competitive games so far, overcoming Young Boys Bern in the UEFA Champions League play-offs to reach the group stage proper, as well as booking a place in the DFB Cup second round and defeating Leverkusen on Matchday 1. However, they will be wary of letting complacency get the better of them away to SC Freiburg: the Black Forest outfit are unbeaten in their last eight home games against Gladbach, winning six and drawing two. Indeed, the Foals' last league win in Freiburg was back in 2002.