By Emre Asikci
ISTANBUL (AA) - Bundesliga 2023-24 season will kick off on Friday with Werder Bremen hosting defending champion Bayern Munich.
The opening game of the 61st season will take place at 1830 GMT at the Wohninvest Weserstadion, the 42,100-capacity stadium, in Bremen.
Borussia Dortmund, who completed last season of the Bundesliga in second place on goal difference, are after their first title since 2012. Dortmund will host Koln at Westfalen Stadium on Saturday.
In another Saturday clash, Bayer Leverkusen will host Leipzig at BayArena.
Bayern Munich, who has 11 Bundesliga titles in a row lead the way with their record 32 titles.
Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen, Hamburg, VfB Stuttgart, Borussia Monchengladbach, Cologne, and Kaiserslautern have all lifted the Meisterschale multiple times.
Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach won the Bundesliga five times so far.
- Bayern Munich ranked as German most valuable club
Thomas Tuchel-led holders Bayern strengthened their squad with Harry Kane and Kim Min-Jae.
Borussia Dortmund said goodbye to Jude Bellingham but acquired Felix Nmecha and Marcel Sabitzer to strengthen the team's offensive line.
Leipzig sold multiple players and are getting a financial boost from the departures of their former contributors such as Josko Gvardiol - $97 million-, Christopher Nkunku -$65 million-, and Dominik Szoboszlai - $76 million-.
Leipzig had many recruits in the 2023 summer transfer window, including Lois Openda, Castello Lukeba, Benjamin Sesko, Christoph Baumgartner, Nicolas Seiwald, Xavi Simons and Fabio Carvalho.
Bayern Munich are the most valuable club in the German top tier with a worth €981.2 million ($1,066 million).
Borussia Dortmund are in second place and are valued at $501 million, while Bayer Leverkusen are third with a valuation of $466 million.
Also, with a total capacity of 81,365 spectators, Borussia Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park is Germany's largest football stadium.
- First week
Friday:
Werder Bremen-Bayern Munich
Saturday:
Augsburg - Borussia Monchengladbach
Bayer Leverkusen - Leipzig
Hoffenheim - Freiburg
Stuttgart - Bochum
Wolfsburg - Heidenheim
Borussia Dortmund - Koln
Saturday:
Union Berlin - Mainz 05
Eintracht Frankfurt - Darmstadt 98