Bayern Munich have vowed to pick up where they left off last season, targeting the treble, while their outclassed Bundesliga rivals have undergone a reboot to try and cut the gap.
Bayern host German Cup runners-up Stuttgart in Friday's opener after a successful 2025-26 campaign, winning the double and chalking up the fourth-best points tally in Bundesliga history.
📌 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧 𝗨𝗣: 𝗪𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗢 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞! 👊🔥
— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) August 25, 2026
We kick-off the Bundesliga season on Friday 🆚 Stuttgart at the Allianz Arena ❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/SkSgDXCx7S
Flanked by Michael Olise and Luis Diaz, Harry Kane helped barnstorming Bayern score a record-breaking 122 goals in 34 Bundesliga games.
Double winners thanks to a Kane hat-trick in the Cup final against Stuttgart, Bayern lost just one of 40 domestic matches.
The Bavarian giants only met serious resistance in the Champions League, where they lost 6-5 on aggregate to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals.
As Bayern strengthened by adding Moroccan World Cup star Ismael Saibari and Germany's Nathaniel Brown, their possible challengers have rung the changes.
Both Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig have new coaches, while Borussia Dortmund have spent big on youth as they try to mount a title push.
Bayern beat Dortmund in Saturday's German Super Cup and again look hungry ahead of a long campaign.
Speaking with AFP and other media after the match, Kane said the 2-1 win was about "sending a message" to their Bundesliga rivals.
"We fell just short in the Champions League, but our momentum is to keep pushing, pushing each other, pushing this team to see how far we can go," he said.
"Our aim is to continue to dominate in Germany, and I think winning here is a great statement."
Kane scored 61 goals in all competitions for Bayern last season.
Famously without silverware until his move to Germany in 2023, the England captain has won three major trophies with Bayern and two Super Cups.
He has extra incentive to start well this season, with the Ballon d'Or to be awarded in October in London.
Bayern are adamant there should be only one recipient.
"It can only be Harry Kane. We can just give it to Harry already," Bayern board member Rouven Kasper told AFP.
Sporting director Christoph Freund said the 33-year-old striker "deserves to win the Ballon d'Or – he had an outstanding season".
Saibari's arrival has given Bayern enough depth to ease Jamal Musiala back into the starting XI, after the Germany international revealed he was suffering from a "neurological disorder".
Musiala collapsed twice on the pitch in pre-season, but Bayern are confident the 23-year-old will recapture his old form.
RIVALS SHUFFLE DECK
After several years of focusing on signing more experienced players, Dortmund have gone back to their old selves by bringing in unproven youngsters with high potential.
Teenagers Konstantinos Karetsas and Joane Gadou arrived in the summer alongside 23-year-old midfielder Giannis Konstantelias.
Including midfielder Joey Veerman, Dortmund spent a reported 110 million euros ($128 million) this summer, roughly the same as Bayern's outlay on Saibari and Brown.
But Dortmund coach Niko Kovac, who won the Bundesliga as Bayern coach in 2018-19, told AFP "a lot must happen" to close the gap.
"We must play over our capacities, I would say. And then Bayern Munich play under their capacity," Kovac said. "But you can be sure we will try everything."
Stuttgart do not boast big-name arrivals but have managed to hold onto their stars for the first time since Sebastian Hoeness took over in 2023.
Stuttgart have qualified for the Champions League in two of Hoeness's three full seasons at the helm.
Leverkusen, title winners in 2023-24, have brought in Spanish coach Carles Martinez Novell to revive the rebuild started when Xabi Alonoso left in 2025.
Leipzig start the season under Argentine Martin Demichelis, who replaced Ole Werner despite the latter taking the Saxons to third spot and a return to the Champions League.
They sold Yan Diomande to Real Madrid for 120 million euros and lack experience in their squad, despite bringing back Christopher Nkunku on a season-long loan from AC Milan.