The second half of the Bundesliga season opens with the classic north-south clash between Hamburger SV and FC Bayern on Friday 22 January, the German Football League (DFL) announced on Thursday. The first league fixture of 2016 kicks off at 20:30 CET at Hamburg's Volksparkstadion. Bayern's meeting with Hoffenheim at the Allianz Arena on Matchday 19 is on Sunday 31 January at 17:30 CET, with the match in Leverkusen at 18:30 on Saturday 6 February.

The DFL also announced the final schedule for the last two matchdays of the first half of the campaign, in which FCB face FC Ingolstadt and Hannover 96. Both matches kick off at 15:30 on Saturday, the one on 12 December, the other on 19 December.