Champions Leverkusen open Bundesliga season at Mönchengladbach

Champions Bayer Leverkusen open the 62nd Bundesliga season at regional rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach on August 23, and also face runners-up VfB Stuttgart and Bayern Munich early on.

Stuttgart open with a regional derby at Freiburg on one of the following two days, Bayern are also away, at Wolfsburg, while Borussia Dortmund start at home against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Holstein Kiel play their first-ever Bundesliga match at Hoffenheim, and the other promoted side, St Pauli Hamburg, host Heidenheim, according to the fixtures list published on Thursday by the German Football League (DFL).

Leverkusen made history last term when they became the first team to go unbeaten in a Bundesliga season, and Xabi Alonso's men also won the German Cup.

They ended Bayern's 11-year reign as league champions, and the two will renew their rivalry on matchday five in Munich in late September.

Leverkusen host Stuttgart on matchday nine in early November while their first date with Dortmund is right after the winter break in mid-January.

The first big duel between Dortmund and Bayern is on matchday 12 November 29-December 1.

The campaign starts on August 17 with the German Super Cup between Leverkusen and Stuttgart.

The Bundesliga season runs until May 17, 2025, when Leverkusen visit Mainz, Bayern are at Hoffenheim, Stuttgart at RB Leipzig and Dortmund play Kiel.