Fortuna Düsseldorf will travel to Hamburger SV on the opening night of the 2. Bundesliga season, with 1. FC Nürnberg hosting SSV Jahn Regensburg at the same time.
The season will start on the 18th September with two rather than the usual one game, with the Bundesliga starting the same night.
Only the opening two games have been given a exact date and time so far, with the rest of the games to take place over the rest of the weekend.
Promoted Eintracht Braunschweig face a tough trip to last season’s third-placed side 1. FC Heidenheim, with Würzburger Kickers hosting FC Erzgebirge Aue. SC Paderborn 07, relegated with Düsseldorf from the top flight, travel to Holstein Kiel.
Hamburg, now under new coach Daniel Thioune, have a tough start with a trip to Paderborn on the second matchday. The other highlight from the early weeks include the first meeting since 2017 between Lower Saxony rivals Hannover 96 and Braunschweig in early October.
The first a Hamburg derby of the season comes on matchday six, in late October/early November, with HSV hosting FC St. Pauli. The Franconian derby between Nürnberg and SpVgg Greuther Fürth is on matchday 9 at the end of November.
Due to the late start, there will be no winter break in the traditional sense, with teams only having the weekend between Christmas and New Year off. Teams involved in the second round of the DFB-Pokal could play on the 23rd December before returning to league action on the 2nd January.
The Hinrunde will not finish until late January. There will be three rounds of midweek fixtures, or Englischewochen, in December, January and April.
It is unclear if fans will be allowed into games from the start, however there will be no away fans before the end of the year. There will also be no standing or alcohol on sale until the end of October.
The full list of fixtures is available on the DFL website.
2liga.net 