Bundesliga To Restart On 16th May

German top-flight football is set to be the first major league to return after a forced break of over 2 months.

The last Bundesliga match to be played took place in the evening of 11th March when Borussia Mönchengladbach hosted FC Köln and secured a narrow 2-1 win at Borussia-Park. It was to be the first Bundesliga match played without a single spectator in the stands which will likely be the situation for games going forward as leagues worldwide attempt to finish the season.

Last week, the Deutsche Fußball Liga announced the return date of the Bundesliga after been given the go-ahead by the German government to resume play. After discussing options with clubs in Germany’s top two leagues, a start date of Saturday 16th May was decided with the aim to finish the season by the 30th June.

Teams in the top-flight have either 9 or 10 league games remaining with Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke 04 being the stand-out match on the opening day.

The Bundesliga fixtures for the first weekend after the season resumes are listed below.

Current champions Bayern Munich currently top the table with a 4 point lead over 2nd placed Borussia Dortmund with Hans-Dieter Flick’s side hoping to achieve their 8th consecutive Bundesliga title and the 30th in the clubs history. With just 6 points separating the top 4 teams, victory isn’t at all certain for Munich. However, online bookies have started to take bets on the champions with many bookmakers offering odds of just 1/5 (1.2) for Munich to retain their title.

At the other end of the league, Paderborn fans will be hoping that the break will have had a positive effect on the team after coming into the break on the back of a 6 match winless run which last left them bottom of the table and 10 points from safety. Reaching the relegation play-off spot isn’t out of the question being just 6 points off Fortuna Düsseldorf but the bookies are expecting Steffen Baumgart’s side, who were only promoted into the top-flight at the beginning of the season, to drop back down at odds of just 1/20.

Football fans worldwide have been looking forward to play resuming, albeit behind closed doors, and the opening weekend of the Bundesliga will please many who will be setting time aside to watch the matches live. Bundesliga live streaming is available online as well as matches being available via BT Sport.