Champions League participants Borussia Dortmund will begin their preparations for the 56th Bundesliga season on 7 July. The Black & Yellows will play a total of seven friendly matches against some top European teams, including a match against Lazio in Essen on 12 August, before which the newly-formed team and the new head coach Lucien Favre will be introduced to their fans in the region.

The first friendly kicks off around a month beforehand, when BVB visit Austria Vienna to mark the re-opening of the Generali-Arena on 13 July. The match against the 24-time Austrian champions, whose fans had voted in a poll for the Black & Yellows as their first-choice opponents for the special occasion, will kick off at 19:00 CET.

As part of the USA Tour between 18 and 26 July, during which BVB will take part in the International Champions Cup, there are three tough tests on the agenda. The first match will be against English champions Manchester City in Chicago on 20 July (local kick-off time 20:45 / 03:05 CET on 21 July); the second against last season's Champions League finalists Liverpool in Charlotte on 22 July (local kick-off time 16:05 / 22:05 CET); and the third will be against the Portuguese record champions Benfica in Pittsburgh on 25 July (local kick-off time 20:05 / 02:05 CET on 26 July).

In the subsequent training camp that will take place in the Swiss resort of Bad Ragaz between 1 and 8 August, there will be a further two friendlies. The first will be against Rennes, who finished last season fifth in France and qualified for the Europa League, in Altach on 3 August, with the second against Italian runners-up and Champions League participants Napoli in St. Gallen on 7 August. The kick-off time for both games is 19:30 CET.

Upon returning to Dortmund, the Season Opening will take place at Signal Iduna Park on 11 August, when BVB − along with main sponsor Evonik − will officially present the team for the 2018/19 season. The next day the squad will travel to Essen for their showdown with Lazio, for whom former Borussia striker and Serie A's top-scorer from last season Ciro Immobile leads the line. The match at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße begins at 17:30 CET.

The Black & Yellows' first competitive match of the new season comes in the First Round of the DFB Cup, in which they will visit second-tier side Fürth on Monday 20 August (20:45 CET, ARD live). The 56th Bundesliga campaign then kicks off with a home game against Rasenballsport Leipzig on either 25 or 26 August.