It’s time for the opening night of the 2023/24 Bundesliga season as Bayern kick off the campaign away at Werder Bremen on Friday (20:30 CEST, coverage on fcbayern.com and in the FC Bayern app with our live text and free web radio). Thomas Tuchel and his men want to start their title defence with a win. Here’s all you need to know about the game in our preview.
State of play
Exactly 83 days since clinching the title in dramatic fashion in Cologne, 11-time defending champions Bayern kick off the new Bundesliga season in the official opening game. The Reds have had an intense pre-season with five friendly matches (four wins, one defeat), but lost the first competitive game of 2023/24 to RB Leipzig in last Saturday’s Supercup (3-0). The goal is to have a much better night as the curtain raises on the 61st Bundesliga season in Bremen. “We obviously need a different sort of spirit to prevail,” demanded coach Tuchel at his press conference on Thursday. “We want to show a reaction. We haven’t found the key yet to unlock things, but we still have a few on the keyring.”
Catch up with everything Tuchel had to say at his pre-match press conference:
Opponent: Werder Bremen
Werder also made a less than ideal start to the new season last weekend when beaten 3-2 by third division side Viktoria Köln in the first round of the DFB Cup. Prior to elimination, the Green-Whites had played five friendly matches during pre-season, with three wins (2-1 vs. Drochtersen/Assel, 3-1 vs. Oldenburg, 5-2 vs. Toulouse), plus a 3-3 draw and 2-1 loss to Racing Strasbourg. “We had a long pre-season and are eager to have a better season than last year,” stated Bremen captain and former Bayern defender Marco Friedl looking ahead to facing his old side. “We need to have a perfect day and perform over the 90 minutes. If we do that, we can get a result.“
Read up on the stats ahead of the game:
Fitness update
Bayern go to Bremen without long-term absentees Manuel Neuer and Raphael Guerreiro. Noussair Mazraoui, Serge Gnabry and Bouna Sarr are also doubts. However, Thomas Müller and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting are both available. New signing Harry Kane is in line to start.
Werder are without Naby Keita, Felix Agu, Dikeni Salifou and Nick Woltemade.
What the coaches say
It’ll be a super atmosphere. It’s an absolute classic. We’re expecting an emotional match and an opponent who play very directly, make the pitch big in possession, have a target man up front in [Niclas] Füllkrug and quick players around him. They’ll try to get at our goal quickly and put us under pressure.
Thomas Tuchel
Definitely excited. In a sporting sense, it’s the biggest task you can face. Both teams are still finding their feet at the start of the season. There’s no advantage or disadvantage in facing Bayern early.
Ole Werner (Werder Bremen head coach)
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