The 2025/26 German football league season kicked off with some unexpected results, shaking up the early standings. Bayer Leverkusen, last season’s champions, faced a surprising home defeat, while Borussia Dortmund let a comfortable lead slip away on the road.
Leverkusen, playing their first league match under new Dutch coach Erik ten Hag – who previously managed Manchester United before Portuguese Ruben Amorim – actually started strong. English new signing Jarell Quansah put them ahead just six minutes in. However, Hoffenheim quickly responded. Kosovar midfielder Fisnik Asllani equalized in the 25th minute, and Tim Lemperle sealed the upset victory for Hoffenheim with a goal in the 52nd minute. This loss marks the first time in three seasons that Leverkusen has fallen in their opening match. The team finished second last year, behind current champions Bayern Munich, after winning their first-ever title in 2023/24.
Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund experienced a wild draw away at St. Pauli, finishing 3-3. Dortmund had been on a ten-season streak of winning their first league game, and they looked set to extend it. They held a two-goal lead late in the match, but things unraveled after Italian player Filippo Mané received a direct red card in the 85th minute. St. Pauli capitalized immediately. Luxembourgish player Danel Sinani converted a penalty in the 86th minute, and Swedish player Eric Smith snatched an equalizer in the 89th minute. Before this late drama, Guinean Serhou Guirassy opened the scoring for Dortmund in the 34th minute. Benin’s Andréas Hountondji leveled for St. Pauli in the 50th minute, only for Dortmund to pull ahead again with goals from Waldemar Anton in the 67th minute and Julian Brandt in the 74th minute. Guirassy also missed a penalty kick in the 39th minute. St. Pauli, featuring Luso-French player Mathias Pereira Lage as a starter, and Dortmund now find themselves off the pace, as six other clubs secured victories in this opening round.
Early Season Winners
The reigning champions, Bayern Munich, started their campaign with a dominant 6-0 home win over Leipzig on Friday, kicking off the 63rd Bundesliga season in style. This victory immediately put them at the top of the table. Joining Bayern at the summit are Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolfsburg, Augsburg, Union Berlin, and Hoffenheim, all with a perfect start.
Eintracht Frankfurt secured a comfortable 4-1 victory at home against Werder Bremen. Turkish player Can Uzun, French player Jean-Mattéo Bahoya (who scored twice), and Ansgar Knauff all found the net for Frankfurt, while Justin Njinmah scored Bremen’s lone goal. Luso-Angolan player Aurélio Buta remained on the bench for Frankfurt.
Augsburg also celebrated an away win, defeating Freiburg 3-1. Greek player Dimitrios Giannoulis, French player Chrislain Matsima, and Marius Wolf scored for Augsburg. Italo-German Vincenzo Grifo pulled one back for Freiburg from the penalty spot.
Wolfsburg matched that 3-1 scoreline on their visit to Heidenheim. Danish player Andreas Skov Olsen, Swedish player Mattias Svanberg, and Algerian Mohamed Amoura (who has been linked with Benfica) scored for Wolfsburg, with Amoura’s goal coming from a penalty. Brazilian Léo Scienza scored for Heidenheim.
Union Berlin, without their injured Portuguese central defender Diogo Leite, managed a 2-1 home win against Stuttgart. Ilyas Ansah bagged two goals for Union. Stuttgart’s Portuguese forward Tiago Tomás, playing his first match in his second stint with the club, scored a clever backheel goal near the end. This goal brings his Bundesliga tally to 15 in 100 appearances.
The first matchday of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season will conclude on Sunday. Promoted teams Köln and Hamburg will play away at Mainz and Borussia Mönchengladbach, respectively.