Key fixtures in the 2023/24 Bundesliga season
After only goal difference separated Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the top last season, the pair renew rivalries in 2023/24, but when do they meet in Der Klassiker? Plus, there’s crunch fixtures involving RB Leipzig, local derbies, European tussles and many more BIG clashes throughout the coming campaign.
bundesliga.com runs you through the when and where…
Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich: Matchday 10, 3-5 November 2023
Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund: Matchday 27, 30/31 March 2024
It doesn’t get much bigger in the world of football than Germany’s two largest and best-supported clubs locking horns twice a season in the Bundesliga. Only goal difference separated the pair as they finished level on points in one of the most dramatic title finishes in history last season. When these two juggernauts meet on Matchday 10, it will be just a week shy of five years since Dortmund last beat Bayern in the league. And it was April 2014 when they last won a Bundesliga match in Munich.
The table will already be taking shape by the time the first Klassiker comes around at the Signal Iduna Park. BVB will feel they will need a victory there to lay down a marker. The Hinrunde encounter also comes at what’s likely to be a busy period, sandwiched by the DFB Cup second round and UEFA Champions League group games on the Tuesday/Wednesday before and after. The return fixture comes straight after the March international break and days before the DFB Cup semi-finals are scheduled.
Watch: The dramatic 2-2 Klassiker draw in Dortmund last season
Cologne vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach: Matchday 8, 20-22 October 2023
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Cologne: Matchday 25, 8-10 March 2024
Relegation for Schalke and Hertha Berlin sees us deprived of both the Revierderby and Berlin derby this season. It means the Rhine rivals need to step up and show what they’re about in 2023/24. Cologne and Gladbach have been battling it out for supremacy in the Rhineland for the majority of the Bundesliga’s history. It’s the Billy Goats who host the Foals first up in October looking to avenge the fact Gladbach leapfrogged them in the table on the final day of last term. Borussia’s biggest victory of last season came over Cologne, winning 5-2 at home.
Cologne-Gladbach is known as the Rhine derby, but Bayer Leverkusen have tried to muscle their way into the battle for local bragging rights. They go to Borussia-Park on Matchday 2 for what is ex-Bayer boss Gerardo Seoane’s first home game in charge of the Foals. Die Werkself then host near neighbours Cologne the round before the first Rhine derby, although an international break in between allows the Billy Goat faithful time to catch their breath and recharge between those big games.
Watch: Gladbach claimed big derby spoils last term
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RB Leipzig vs. Bayern Munich: Matchday 6, 29 September - 1 October 2023
Bayern Munich vs. RB Leipzig: Matchday 23, 23-25 February 2024
Had only results counted from when Marco Rose took over at Leipzig last season, they would’ve been champions. They also retained their DFB Cup title. As a result, Die Roten Bullen will go to Munich on Saturday, 12 August for the season-opening Supercup – a repeat of last year’s game – and the first silverware of 2023/24. You’d expect Leipzig to have a serious say in the destination of this term’s Meisterschale, with an autumnal fixture at home to champions Bayern an opportunity to test their title credentials. Leipzig won at the Allianz Arena for the first time ever on the penultimate weekend of last season to very nearly help dethrone Bayern. They return in the Rückrunde at the end of February to try and do it again, but will it be to their advantage or another rival’s?
Watch: Leipzig claimed a first-ever win away at Bayern late last season
Borussia Dortmund vs. RB Leipzig: Matchday 14, 8-10 December 2023
RB Leipzig vs. Borussia Dortmund: Matchday 31, 26-28 April 2024
Dortmund and Leipzig are probably the two teams most people would put their money on to end Bayern’s 11-year reign. If either are to do that, they will likely also need to beat each other. Die Roten Bullen have had the upper hand in the last couple of seasons with four wins from the last five competitive encounters, but BVB still lead the overall head-to-head with eight wins from 16 meetings (six Leipzig wins, two draws), which have seen a total of 53 goals scored. Rose’s first game in charge of RB was the 3-0 win at home to Dortmund last season, while Borussia edged the return fixture. This year they meet at potentially season-defining times, just before the winter break (between the DFB Cup round of 16 and the last Champions League group games) and then four games from the finish line.
Watch: Dortmund edged Leipzig in the last meeting
Last season’s top six
Bayer Leverkusen vs. RB Leipzig: Matchday 1, 19/20 August 2023
Union Berlin vs. RB Leipzig: Matchday 3, 1-3 September 2023
Bayern Munich vs. Bayer Leverkusen: Matchday 4, 15-17 September 2023
Freiburg vs. Borussia Dortmund: Matchday 4, 15-17 September 2023
Bayern Munich vs. Freiburg: Matchday 7, 6-8 October 2023
Borussia Dortmund vs. Union Berlin: Matchday 7, 6-8 October 2023
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Freiburg: Matchday 9, 27-29 October 2023
RB Leipzig vs. Freiburg: Matchday 11, 10-12 November 2023
Bayern Munich vs. Union Berlin: Matchday 13, 1-3 December 2023
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Borussia Dortmund: Matchday 13, 1-3 December 2023
Freiburg vs. Union Berlin: Matchday 17, 12-14 January 2024
It was also very tight in the race for the top four and Champions League qualification last season, with Freiburg’s loss to Union with three games to go ultimately deciding matters in favour of the capital club. Will both be able to maintain that level again this year? They meet on the first matchday of 2024 and the final day of the season.
Leverkusen could have an even bigger say this time in Xabi Alonso’s first full campaign in charge. They open up at home to Leipzig in what will be a tone-setting fixture for both sides.
Notably, Bayern are away to Dortmund and Leipzig in the Hinrunde, but at home to the other top sides in Leverkusen, Freiburg and Union. It means they host their two biggest rivals in 2024, but face tricky trips against sides who all either took points off them or knocked them out the DFB Cup last term.
Watch: Alonso’s Leverkusen stunned Bayern in 2022/23
Coincidentally, Dortmund’s fixtures against last year’s remaining top six (Freiburg, Union and Leverkusen) all come on the same matchdays that Bayern also face one of those three. Results there could see some big swings in favour of the victors. All fixtures are reversed in the same order for the second half of the season.
The Gladbach factor
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Bayern Munich: Matchday 3, 1-3 September 2023
Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach: Matchday 20, 2-4 February 2024
Gladbach finished 10th last season but once again proved a huge thorn in Bayern’s side. No team has beaten the record champions more often in the Bundesliga than the Foals. No team has a better record against them since the start of their 11-year reign than Borussia. They drew 1-1 in Munich last season and then won 3-2 at Borussia-Park to continue their hoodoo over the Bavarians. An early-season visit to Mönchengladbach will not be what Bayern would’ve wanted as they look to get off to a strong start.
Watch: Gladbach continued their jinx over Bayern
Final day
Borussia Dortmund vs. Darmstadt
Hoffenheim vs. Bayern Munich
Union Berlin vs. Freiburg
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Augsburg
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. RB Leipzig
Werder Bremen vs. Bochum
VfB Stuttgart vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach
Heidenheim vs. Cologne
Fast forward 34 matchdays to Saturday, 18 May 2024 at 3.30pm CEST. There was so much drama on the final day of last season, from the title decider to the battle to survive at the bottom. So, where will we see the celebrations this year? Where will the tears flow? You can see all nine Matchday 34 fixtures above.
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