This Friday (August 22nd), the Bundesliga kicks off its 63rd season, with defending champions Bayern Munich hosting RB Leipzig at the Allianz Arena.

Who are the favorites to win the Bundesliga?

Using the betting odds as an indicator, reigning champions Bayern Munich are widely expected to successfully defend their title when all is said and done next May.  

If put down a €1 bet on Bayern to win the title, you can expect to receive just €1.30 back from the bookmakers if the Bavarians do in fact again win the league. Last season's runners-up Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, and RB Leipzig trail well behind.

Most pundits also see Bayern as the clear favorites. Leverkusen, the champions of the 2023-2024 season, are in transition. Xabi Alonso, who led the Werkself to their first Bundesliga championship, has moved on to Real Madrid. Erik ten Hag, formerly of Manchester United, is his successor at Leverkusen.

Bayer have also lost four key players over the summer: Florian Wirtz and Jeremy Frimpong are now at Liverpool, Granit Xhaka moved to Sunderland, and Jonathan Tah now patrol's Bayerns back line.

Bayern, on the other hand have avoided such a radical bloodletting, though they have lost Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman and Thomas Müllerfrom their attacking ranks. Sane, who moved to high-spending Turkish side Galatasaray was mostly a substitute under coach Vincent Kompany last season anyway and Coman is injury prone. Bayern chose not to renew the expiring contract of  the 35-year-old club legend Müller. The man who played more games for Bayern than any other (756 competitive matches), has embarked on a Canadian adventure with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Which clubs were promoted?

Two founding members of the Bundesliga are back. Hamburg (HSV), the club that had lasted the longest without being relegated from the Bundesliga, spent seven long seasons in Bundesliga 2 after finally going down in 2018. Cologne were relegated in 2023-2024 and managed to climb back to Germany's top flight on first attempt.

Both clubs have a long history in the Bundesliga and both bring with them vast fan support. Cologne have around 150,000 members, HSV more than 125,000 – placing them fourth and fifth respectively  among German clubs in terms of membership. In the 2024-25 second-division season, Hamburg's stadium was sold out for 13 of its 17 home games, while Cologne had 11 sellouts.

Heidenheim remain in the Bundesliga, having survived at the last minute, beating second-division outfit Elversberg in the post-season relegation playoff

Which new foreign stars can fans look forward to?

The league's most prominent and most expensive signing is Colombian international Luis Diaz. Bayern Munich paid around €70 million ($81.8 million) to prise the forward away from Liverpool.

At rivals Bayer Leverkusen, Dutch international goalkeeper Mark Flekken has been brought in from English club Brentford and USA midfielder Malik Tillman has joined the Werkself from Eindhoven.

Borussia Dortmund enter the season with a familiar name in their squad: Bellingham. Jobe, 19, is the younger brother of Jude Bellingham, who spent three seasons at Dortmund before moving to Real Madrid in 2023.

Have there been any notable rule changes?

Several rules that had been tested in a trial phase in the Bundesliga have now been written into the rulebook permanently. These include the stipulation that only the captain of a team is allowed to argue calls with the referee.

Another new feature is that goalkeepers will only be allowed to hold the ball in their hands for eight seconds before distributing it, instead of six – although this rule has seldom been strictly enforced. Now, the referee must clearly count down the last five seconds with the fingers of a raised hand.

If the goalkeeper still has the ball in his hands after eight seconds, the opposing team is awarded a corner. This is meant to cut down on time wasting.

This is also the intent of another provision, in which referees are instructed to be stricter about adding time lost due to interruptions in play, such as goal celebrations, substitutions, and injuries.

Another innovation concerns penalty kicks: If a player accidentally touches the ball twice during a penalty kick—like hitting the ball against his standing leg—and scores a goal, the penalty kick is retaken. If the ball doesn't end up in the goal as a result of the second touch, an indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team.

And what other changes are coming?

To promote fair play, the referees are to meet with the coaches and captains of both teams 70 minutes before the start of a match. This is intended to promote "respectful interaction between everyone involved in the match," according to the German Football League (DFL), which operates the Bundesliga.

Referees at all matches will be required to announce decisions over the stadium PA system after each video review. This had been tested in nine Bundesliga stadiums last season.

The use of semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) is to be introduced. In this system, data from high-resolution cameras is analyzed by artificial intelligence (AI) to calculate the exact positions of the players and the ball. The AI decision is then transmitted by the VAR to the on-pitch referee. However, the final decision still rests with the referee on the field.

This article was originally published in German.