Bayern Munich Schedule 2016-17: Bundesliga Fixtures Released for New Season

Carlo Ancelotti’s first Bundesliga game as Bayern Munich manager will be against Werder Bremen at the Allianz Arena, as the fixtures for the upcoming season were confirmed on Wednesday.

The German champions’ season gets underway on August 26. They will travel to Schalke 04 in Week 2, while FC Ingolstadt will be out to oust the Bavarian juggernauts in Week 3 of 2016-17. They will finish the campaign at home against Freiburg.

Ancelotti will get his first taste of a Der Klassiker against Borussia Dortmund on the weekend beginning November 18 at the Westfalenstadion. The return fixture will be played on the weekend starting April 7 in Munich.

Here are Bayern's fixtures before the winter break, per the Bundesliga Instagram page:

The schedule in full can be seen on the Bundesliga website.

Bayern the Team to Beat Again

Losing a manager of Pep Guardiola’s calibre would be enough to make supporters of any team a little apprehensive about what’s in store for the future. Yet Bayern approach this term with excitement rather than apprehension, despite the departure of one of the game’s great coaches.

Xavier Laine/Getty Images

Primarily, that’s because they’ve brought in a replacement of equal stature in the game. Ancelotti is a man who’s had success in Italy, England, France and Spain.

The Italian has won the UEFA Champions League on three occasions—twice with AC Milan and once with Real Madrid—and has a fine opportunity to add more honours to his resume at Bayern.

He has an exceptional squad to work with. Nevertheless, Bleacher Report’s Clark Whitney believes it does need adding to before the big kick-off:

Already the German champions have conducted some outstanding business, bolstering the spine of their team with former Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels and ex-Benfica midfielder Renato Sanches.

Given Guardiola had to use Joshua Kimmich and David Alaba as emergency centre-backs at times last term, getting Hummels is a huge boost. Not only have Bayern weakened an immediate rival in Dortmund by signing their leader, they will be hopeful of the defender kindling his partnership with Jerome Boateng from the German national side at the Allianz Arena.

VI-Images/Getty Images

While Hummels will add assurance and experience, Sanches will bring a bundle of energy to the middle of the field for Bayern. As noted by the UEFA Euro 2016 Twitter feed, despite being only 18, the Portuguese is already making a big impression at the elite level:

Of course, there is already a squad intact that’s very talented. Ancelotti will have arguably the world’s best goalkeeper between the sticks next term in Manuel Neuer, the versatility and experience of Philipp Lahm, plus a midfield that contains so many different options such as Xabi Alonso, Arturo Vidal, Thiago Alcantara and Mario Gotze.

It’s at the sharp end of the pitch where this team is most exciting, though. On the flanks, Ancelotti will be hopeful of getting the best from veterans Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery after both struggled with injuries last term, although Kingsley Coman and Douglas Costa excelled in their positions.

Michael Probst/Associated Press

Up top Thomas Muller will want to continue building after the best goalscoring year of his career; Robert Lewandowski was also lethal in front of goal, per Squawka Football:

The two fixtures with Dortmund are always special occasions, but it’s tough to see them being decisive in terms of the title. While Bayern are established and have added the gloss to their awesome squad this summer, their main rivals have lost key men and are set to embark on a transitional spell.

It means something seismic will have to happen to prevent Ancelotti from lifting the title in his first campaign at the helm.

Bayern supporters will run the rule over these fixtures and, such is the strength of the squad, won't see many matches this group of players are not capable of winning.