BVB v Hamburger SV: all you need to know for the Bundesliga opener | OneFootball

The ball is rolling again in the Bundesliga. The 64th season in Germany’s top flight gets underway on Friday with the clash between Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart. A day later (29 August, 6:30 pm), Borussia Dortmund also enters the fray with a home game against Hamburger SV.

A familiar sight at the start of a Bundesliga season: for years, Bayern, as reigning champions, have had the honor of playing the official opening match – with the exception of Leverkusen in 2024/25. Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, will contest the first Saturday evening top match for the seventh season in a row.

HSV and BVB are among the Bundesliga’s founding members. Borussia’s first home game against Hamburger SV took place on Matchday 29 of the inaugural 1963/64 season. At the Stadion Rote Erde, a crowd of 8,000 watched the hosts celebrate a 5-2 victory.

The overall record of all matches between Dortmund and Hamburg in Germany’s top division gives the Black and Yellows a narrow edge, with 39 wins to 36, alongside 29 draws and a goal difference of 188:182.

HSV have mostly come away empty-handed recently

Recently, though, there has been little for the Hanseatic side to take from matches against BVB. They have picked up just a single point from the last seven meetings. Last season, the Red Shorts earned a 1-1 draw on home soil. Their most recent visit to Signal Iduna Park was particularly bitter: despite holding a comfortable 2-0 lead, Hamburg ended up empty-handed and still lost 3-2.

BVB coach Niko Kovac has especially fond memories of the city on the Elbe. Between 1999 and 2001, the Berlin native made a total of 55 Bundesliga appearances for HSV (12 goals, 9 assists). As a head coach, his record against the Hanseatic club is flawless: in six Bundesliga meetings with Frankfurt and Dortmund, he has remained unbeaten (four wins, two draws). Kovac also found personal happiness during his time in Hamburg: his daughter Laura was born there in 2001.

Photo by Holde Schneider/Bongarts/Getty Images

When a new season begins, the Black and Yellows usually do not need long to get going. From 2015/16 to 2024/25, BVB won their opening match every season. That streak came to an end last season. Away at eventual relegation side FC St. Pauli, Borussia threw away a 3-1 lead in the closing minutes and conceded twice more. The turning point was Filippo Mane’s red card in the 85th minute.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.