as the millennium drew to a close, karlsruhe faded. the club started the 1997–98 bundesliga season well, with two wins and a draw in their opening three matches, but their downfall began with a 1–6 defeat to bayer leverkusen on day 4. at the league winter break the club sat outside the relegation ranks, but a series of negative results pushed them down to 15th place until the second-last matchday of the season. schäfer was fired in march 1998, but this did not keep the club from slipping to the second bundesliga after a 16th-place finish. the club needed an away draw against hansa rostock on the final day of the season to avoid relegation, but lost the match 2–4 while borussia mönchengladbach beat vfl wolfsburg 2–0 to overtake ksc and finish 15th on goal difference.