After a great deal of behind the scenes negotiations, the calendar for the 2020-21 season has been announced today.
All three league divisions will begin playing on the weekend commencing the 18th September, with the winter break starting after only the 13th round of matches on 18-21 December. It will last a mere two weeks before the season starts again on 1-3 January. The 3.Liga gets an extra week off, with those clubs resuming on 8-10 January.
The weekend before the leagues start in September will feature the first round of the DFB-Pokal, with the second not being played until the 22-23 December. The remaining rounds are staged on weekends until the final which will be played before the end of the league season, in a break with tradition, on Thursday 13th May.
The final game of the Bundesliga and 3.Liga season will take place on Saturday 22nd May and the Bundesliga 2 season will conclude on the following day. This allows for the completion of all the Relegation play-off games before the end of May.
There will be three “Englische Wochen”, featuring midweek games, in the top two divisions and six in the 3. Liga.
The Bundesliga is the first of the major leagues in Europe to issue its 2020-21 timetable.