The fixtures for the opening day of the 2008/2009 Bundesliga season have been announced. All of these matches will be played on Saturday, August 16:

FC Bayern v Hamburg
Schalke v Hannover
Wolfsburg v Cologne
Bayer Leverkusen v Borussia Dortmund
Eintracht Frankfurt v Hertha Berlin
Karlsruhe v Bochum
Energie Cottbus v Hoffenheim
Arminia Bielefeld v Werder Bremen
B. Mönchengladbach v Stuttgart

One of the most interesting matches will be between current Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich and Hamburg. Both teams will feature new managers. Jürgen Klinsmann for Bayern, and Martin Jol for Hamburg.

The 45th season of the Bundesliga has come to an end with comparatively little drama or theatrics. Bayern all but guaranteed itself the title with a busy summer in the transfer market, spending 70 million Euros on Luca Toni (the league’s top scorer), Franck Ribery (world class playmaker) and the rest. While this investment was able to secure first place in Germany, a return to Champions League action and a domestic cup, it could not secure the treble. Two (lucky) draws against a lower table Spanish side Getafe and an aggregate 2–5 drubbing by the Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg did remove some of the season’s luster. But ultimately with their 20th Bundesliga title in hand this year can be seen as a return to form for Bayern and their fans.

The names of the other squads returning to Europe has a familiar ring to them:

Both Bremen and Schalke return to the Champions League with Bremen automatically qualifying this year and Schalke going into the third qualifying round.

Hamburg, last year’s Intertoto Cup “winner”, enters the Uefa Cup proper joined by a Wolfsburg team who in 2006-07 had finished 15th, the last safe spot above the relegation zone, and Dortmund who had an uninspiring year but were runners-up in the DFB Cup.

Hertha Berlin are fortunate to be in Europe this year, being the lucky recipients of a Fair Play UEFA Cup first round qualifying place along with Manchester City and Denmark’s FC Nordsjælland.

Finally Stuttgart, the ex-reigning champs, have the pleasure of playing in the Intertoto Cup’s third round where, if they’re as lucky as Hamburg was last year, they’ll get to play a team from Moldova. The Intertoto Cup is slated to be abolished in 2009, so if Stuttgart (or any other German club) still has designs on European silverware the time is running out.

Bayer Leverkusen and Nürnberg both failed to emulate last year’s success. Leverkusen just missed out on a spot in Europe with their 7th place finish. Nürnberg took matters one step further by not only avoiding Europe but the 1. Bundesliga as well, choosing relegation instead. Being relegated as reigning DFB Cup holders stands proudly alongside the club’s unique achievement of winning the league one year (1968) and being relegated the next.

Joining Nürnberg are Hansa Rostock and MSV Duisburg, two squads who gained promotion only the year before. Karlsruhe, comfortable winners of the 2. Bundesliga, finished a respectable 11th in the table.

The 1. Bundesliga welcomes in their place two old faces: five-time champions Borussia Mönchengladbach and three-time champions FC Köln, and one very new one: 1899 Hoffenheim. Hoffenheim is only two years removed from playing in Regionalliga Süd, one of the various third tier leagues (soon to be replaced by a nation-wide 3. Liga). It is difficult to imagine them surviving beyond their inaugural season in the highest division, but they are sure to gain numerous fans from around the football-starved Heidelberg area in southwestern Germany.

As for the other clubs? Hannover, Frankfurt, Bochum, Cottbus and Bielefeld did just enough to stay within the safe band of clubs between spots 7 and 15 on the table to avoid mention. Sure, Cottbus and Bielefeld flirted continually with relegation throughout the season, but did just enough in the end. The rest managed to be solid, anonymous mid-table clubs. Consistent adequacy may not be glamorous, but it is reassuring.

Relegation Crunch Time

With two games remaining a total of six points is all that distinguishes the bottom five squads from one another. Three: Rostock, Duisburg, and Nürnberg technically inhabit the relegation zone with 27, 29, and 31 points respectively. Bielefeld (32 pts) and Cottbus (33) are flirting with danger, being out of immediate harm’s way BUT having two of the three worst goal differentials in the league (lowly Rostock rounds out this ignominious trio).

How will this shake out?

Hansa Rostock — Relegated. They need two wins and a lot of help. It’s not inconceivable they’ll defeat Bochum in week 34. They won 2–0 (at home) in December, but by week 34 it will already be too late. Unfortunately for Rostock they face a determined Leverkusen side hoping to steal a UEFA cup spot from Hamburg or Stuttgart.

MSV Duisburg — Relegated. It all comes down to their final game against Eintracht Frankfurt after presumably losing this week to Bayern. While they’re unlikely to get sufficient points to force their way out of the drop zone, their schedule is best suited for doing so (at least dramatically). In short, don’t be completely surprised if Duisburg should leapfrog Nürnberg and Bielefeld to safety.

1. FC Nürnberg — Relegated. It’s a shame, really. They’ve become a classic yo-yo club and seem destined to go down yet again. They have the talent to get a draw away at Hertha Berlin but that’s it. The final week sees a Schalke side visit intent on securing an automatic Champions League spot. A valiant, but ultimately futile effort. Goodbye Bayern München and 1. Bundesliga, hello TSV 1860 München and 2. Bundesliga.

Arminia Bielefeld — Safe. Had Bielefeld been forced to play Dortmund away they would end up being relegated after losing to them and Stuttgart in succession. As it stands, they manage to avoid the drop, barely, by drawing at home to Dortmund.

Energie Cottbus — Safe. Their meager points cushion is enough to see them through to another season of top flight football by default. Not a particularly inspiring example, no last gasp heroics, just the good fortune of being the best of a bad bunch.