With the release of the 2018/19 Bundesliga fixture list on Friday, 29 June, the countdown to the new season has begun.

Matchday 1 has previously thrown up some real corkers, and defending champions Bayern Munich will once again be given the task of opening the season, against Hoffenheim.

The action doesn't begin until the evening of August 24 - ample time to swot up on the curtain-raising statistical skinny of seasons past...

Bayern are the most successful team on the opening Matchday of the season, averaging 2.1 points per game (since the introduction of three points for a win).Bayern have, logically, recorded most victories (34), been top of the table most frequently (11 times) and scored the most goals (120) after the first round of games.The Bavarians were also on the receiving end of the biggest opening-day defeat in Bundesliga history – a 6-0 thrashing at a Kickers Offenbach side coached by Otto Rehhagel in 1974/75.The team in second place after Matchday 1 has been relegated (seven times) more often than it has won the Bundesliga title (five times).

Watch: Highlights of Bayern's 3-1 win over Leverkusen on Matchday 1 in 2017/18

In the 55 Bundesliga seasons since the league's inception in 1963, 138 clubs have been relegated. Almost a quarter of them (23 per cent) started those seasons with a win, while 56 per cent avoided defeat on Matchday 1.

Four teams have been relegated despite topping the standings after Matchday 1: Hansa Rostock (1991/92), Karlsruher SC (1997/98), Borussia Mönchengladbach (1998/99) and Arminia Bielefeld (2002/03).

On the flip side of that coin, 70 teams have avoided relegation after occupying one of the bottom two positions following the first round of games.

Klaus Fichtel, Eike Immel, Manfred Kaltz and Karl-Heinz Körbel have more appearances on Matchday 1 than anyone else in Bundesliga history (17). Former Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn has the most opening-day wins (11), however.

Watch: Kahn reflects on one of his feistiest games in the Bundesliga, including THAT kung-fun kick

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Borussia Dortmund have suffered more opening-day defeats (22) than any other Bundesliga club.Schalke have conceded more goals than any other team on Matchday 1 (85), while a league-high 178 goals have been scored at Hamburg on the opening day.The record for most goals on Matchday 1 was set in 1986/87, when nets were rippled 42 times. The lowest tally (18) has occurred twice, most recently in 2001.

- © imago / Sebastian Wells

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