Bundesliga round 1

Wolfsburg v Stuttgart LIVE on ESPN Sky Ch 417 or ESPN HD Sky Ch 442 Friday 7.30pm
Hertha v Hannover
Nurnberg v Schalke
Mainz v Leverkusen
Bremen v Eintracht
Dortmund v Cologne
Hoffenheim v Bayern LIVE on ESPN Sky Ch 417 or ESPN HD Sky Ch 442 Saturday 5.30pm
Bochum v Monchengladbach
Freiburg v Hamburg

It's back. Europe's most fun league returns and champions Wolfsburg kick us all off on Friday night at home to Stuttgart. Markus Babbel missed out on Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to replace Mario Gomez - wage demands for the Dutchman scuppered that deal and he's gone to AC Milan - but they did grab Pavel Pogrebnyak as a replacement. That's pretty much like-for-like. Wolfsburg replaced Felix Magath with Armin Veh, the man that Babbel replaced in Stuttgart, to manage them this season and he's kept the side together. The expected bids from Magath's new side Schalke didn't materialise as the Gelsenkirchen side adapt to a new austere lifestyle, so Misimovic, Grafite and Dzeko will reunite their amazing trio. Dzeko was interesting Milan, but the Bosnian has signed an extension to his contract. As well as Pogrebnyak, Stuttgart also brought in Alexander Hleb for a second stint at the club, on loan from Barcelona. Of all the fixtures you could have picked to open the competition, this is the tastiest.

Last year's surprise package Hoffenheim welcome Bayern in their opener. Having Vedad Ibsevic back from injury is like a new player for coach Ralf Rangnick. The Bosnian fired in 18 goals by the winter break, but a cruciate ligament injury curtailed his season. Josip Simunic arrives from Hertha and Sejad Salihovic will again be the main man. Bayern were expected to recruit strongly but instead spent the summer warning prospective suitors off Franck Ribéry. Ivica Olic and Mario Gomez arrive to add attacking options that weren't really warranted. They needed a goalkeeper, but none came. They needed defenders and only Edison Braafheid arrived from Twente. Danijel Pranjic will add options after his arrival from Heerenveen, but again it's Ribéry to whom the responsibility will fall.

The three promoted sides all have tough openers. Nurnberg go to Schalke with Felix Magath's new side undergoing something of a difficult period. They needed change and none has been forthcoming except off the field. Mainz, whose main aim is both realistic and parochial, will be to finish above Eintracht, and they start at Eintracht's home against Leverkusen who have a tiny squad, in the grander scheme of things, which the enforced retirement of Bernd Schnieder definitely didn't help. This could be a diffcult season for them while Mainz are already on their second manager of the season. Freiburg are at home to Hamburg for whom Ze Roberto is an important signing. Eljero Elia comes in from Twente to add speed to what was a remarkably one-paced side last year.

Hannover look like they'll struggle and they start against an Andriy Voronin-less Hertha. Where the goals come from for the Berliners is a mystery and that could be their undoing. Eintracht are a shambles of a club and they start in Bremen who can no longer rely on Diego to dig them out of holes now he's at Juventus. Marco Marin comes in from Gladbach and lines up alongside Mesut Ozil who starred for the U21s in the summer where Germany won the European Championship. It's a young and exciting midfield for Bremen and it's been years since that's been said. Bochum v Gladbach looks a battle of relegation candidates. Gladbach were lucky to get out of trouble last term and without Marin will struggle to create goals. Dortmund v Cologne looks an exciting fixture and both have new strikers ready to excite. Lukas Podolski returns to Cologne after an unhappy time in Munich while the Argentine Lucas Barrios comes in at Dortmund with a big reputation.