The end of the 2022-23 Bundesliga season was electric, and the follow up to that campaign promises to be even more interesting for all fans of the German top-tier category.
Bayern struggled to win last year's title, and to make up for it, the club has put up a massive investment to sign talented players and add depth to their squad. One of those players signed by Bayern is Harry Kane, who forced Die Roten to break the bank to lure him away from Tottenham. RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund, two of the would-be contenders to steal the title away from Thomas Tuchel's men, also invested heavily with signings such as Löis Openda or Marcel Sabitzer, respectively.
Without any further delay, let us show you how and where you can keep track of all games in the first weekend of the 2023-24 season in the Bundesliga.
Broadcast and streaming information for the United States
The full Bundesliga season will be available to watch on ESPN and its sister channels ABC, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes. This week, Borussia Dortmund vs Köln will be aired on ABC in English language and on ESPN Deportes for Spanish-speaking fans.
The rest of the games will be available to stream for fans across the United States via the ABC App, and on ESPN+. The streaming platform will offer English and Spanish commentary for all games.
For detailed info on where to watch Bundesliga games on TV or online across the world, visit our Bundesliga website.
Bundesliga - Top games to watch this week
Werder Bremen vs Bayern München – The defending Bundesliga champions make their debut in the tournament with Harry Kane, Raphaël Guerreiro and defender Kim Min-Jae all fit to be featured right from the start. Meanwhile, Bremen will have to wait for star signing Naby Keita to be around, which will force them to rely on Niclas Füllkrug's goalscoring skills to escape this match with at least one point.
Bayer Leverkusen vs RB Leipzig – The hosts enter this tournament with Xabi Alonso at the helm for what he hopes to be his first full season as a Bundesliga boss, and they will try to show why the team performed so well under the Spaniard last season. On the other hand, Marco Rose's team makes it to the first match of the season fresh off their DFL Supercup win, and with players such as Xavi Simons and Benjamin Sesko as additions, the team is ready to challenge Bayern's dominance in the league.
Borussia Dortmund vs Köln – It seemed that the Black and Yellow were meant to win last year's title, but Edin Terzic's men bottled their lead and will have to start one more run to end their title drought. This time, they will face Köln without footballers such as Jude Bellingham and Raphaël Guerreiro, while Köln will try to put up a better performance than the one they had last term, where they finished in 11th place, far from European tournaments and equally distant from what their fans expected.
Who's in and who's out
Unfortunately, not all teams will have a full squad to choose from, whether it comes after injuries they picked up last season or because of untimely physical problems during preseason. Here are the names of those playing for the top teams that will not be around to kick off this season.
Bayern München –Injured: Manuel Neuer, Raphaël Guerreiro, Tarek Buchmann
Borussia Dortmund – Injured: Thomas Meunier, Julien Duranville. Doubtful: Karim Adeyemi, Mateu Morey, Gio Reyna.
RB Leipzig – Injured: Peter Gulacsi, El Chadaille Bitshiabu, Amadou Haidara. Doubtful: Kevin Kampl, Christoph Baumgartner.
Union Berlin – Injured: Lucas Tousart, Rani Khedira, András Schäfer.
Bayer Leverkusen – Injured: Piero Hincapie, Sardar Azmoun, Patrik Schick. Doubtful: Gustavo Puerta.
