Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski. (Photo : Getty Images)
Reigning champions FC Bayern Munich will open their fourth straight title defense in the 2016-2017 Bundesliga season against last season's lowly finisher SV Werder Bremen at their home ground of Allianz Arena on Friday, Aug. 26, as the lone match of the day.
Bayern Munich captured their fourth consecutive German top flight trophy last term with a 10-point lead over runners-up Borussia Dortmund in the final overall standings, 88 to 78. Dortmund was the last team who won the Bundesliga before Bayern's four-season reign.
The Bavarians will be led by newly-appointed head coach Carlo Ancelotti this season as former boss Pep Guardiola had left the club for English Premier League side Manchester City earlier this summer.
The Spanish mentor actually signed a contract with City way back in February and so Bayern had the opportunity to find a suitable replacement in the middle of last term.
Ancelotti is also a distinguished head coach who handled championship teams with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain as well as a two-time Champions League winner with AC Milan and also once with Real Madrid with a total of three UCL titles.
Der FCB is coming off a 5-0 shellacking of FC Carl Zeiss Jena at the Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld last Friday in the 2016-2017 German DFB-Pokal tournament as a prelude to their German top flight opener, via Daily Mail Online.
Meanwhile, Werder Bremen, who finished 13th last season, was knocked out of the same tournament by Sportfreunde Lotte, 1-2, at the Sportpark am Lotter Kreuz last Sunday, as per ESPN.
Bremen will continue to be handled by Ukrainian manager Viktor Skrypnyk this season and will be facing a tough test right in their season-opener against a much stronger Munich XI.
Die Werderaner had no big-name signings this summer to significantly improve their squad, but had actually lost a few key players instead, such as Senegalese defender Papy Djilobodji, who was returned to Chelsea from a loan spell, Danish defender Jannik Vestergaard to Borussia Monchengladbach, and Anthony Ujah to Chinese Super League side Liaoning Whowin FC.
The predicted result is a 2-0 win for Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Neuer; Rafinha, Martinez, Alaba, Bernat; Vidal, Lahm, Kimmich; Müller, Lewandowski, Ribery
Werder Bremen starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Wiedwald; Selassie, Sane, Moisander, Sternberg; Fritz, Junuzovic; Yatabare, Kruse, Bartels; Thy
