Bayern to host Hoffenheim on Bundesliga opening week
Bayern Munich and new coach Niko Kovac will begin their Bundesliga title defence by hosting Hoffenheim when the 2018-2019 season gets under way.
The fixtures for the new campaign were released on Saturday (AEST), with Borussia Dortmund handed an eye-catching opening game at home to RB Leipzig and Schalke - last season's runner-up - travelling to Wolfsburg.
Bayern's clash with Hoffenheim - its first league game under former Eintracht Frankfurt boss Kovac - is due to kick off the season on Saturday 25 August (AEST), with the remaining matches in the first matchweek taking place 26 and 27 August (AEST).
Newly promoted Fortuna Dusseldorf and Nurnberg will face Augsburg and Hertha Berlin respectively at the start of their campaigns.
The first Der Klassiker of the season will take place at Signal Iduna Park in matchday 11, across 9-11 November, with the return leg at the Allianz Arena scheduled for early April.
Schalke hosts Bayern in the fourth matchday of the season and the first Revierderby of the campaign will see Borussia Dortmund travel to the Veltins Arena in December.
Hoffenheim boss Julian Nagelsmann, who has agreed to join RB Leipzig at the end of the 2018-2019 season, faces off against his future employer on matchday six.
The season concludes on 19 May (AEST) with Bayern Munich hosting Eintracht Frankfurt and Dortmund facing a potentially tough final fixture against Borussia Monchengladbach.
All dates are provisional.