1997–98 Borussia Dortmund season

Manager Ottmar Hitzfeld was promoted to sporting director, and Nevio Scala was appointed as his replacement. Under Scala, Dortmund made a strong showing in the Champions League: although they failed to defend the title, there was no shame in their semi-final defeat to eventual winners Real Madrid. Of more concern was their league form, coming 10th (their lowest finish since 1991). This prompted his departure; replacing him was his assistant Michael Skibbe, making him (until 2016) the youngest Bundesliga head coach of all time.

Squad at end of season[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GER Stefan Klos 2 MF  GER Knut Reinhardt 3 DF  GER René Schneider 4 MF  GER Steffen Freund 5 DF  BRA Júlio César 6 MF  GER Matthias Sammer 7 DF  GER Stefan Reuter 8 MF  GER Michael Zorc 9 FW   SUI Stéphane Chapuisat 10 MF  GER Andreas Möller 11 FW  GER Heiko Herrlich 12 GK  GER Wolfgang de Beer 13 FW  GHA Bashiru Gambo 15 DF  GER Jürgen Kohler 16 DF  GER Martin Kree

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  GER Jörg Heinrich 18 MF  GER Lars Ricken 21 FW  GER Christian Timm 22 FW  GHA Ibrahim Tanko 23 DF  GER Jörg Sauerland 24 FW  NED Harry Decheiver 26 MF  GER Frank Riethmann 27 DF  AUT Wolfgang Feiersinger 28 DF  GER Benjamin Knoche 29 MF  RUS Vladimir But 30 FW  USA Jovan Kirovski 31 DF  NOR Steinar Pedersen 32 DF  GER Manfred Binz 33 DF  GER Deniz Sahin 34 DF  GER Björn Mehnert

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF  SCO Paul Lambert (to Celtic) 19 MF  POR Paulo Sousa (to Internazionale)

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW  SCO Scott Booth (to Utrecht)