This season, Dortmund only qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, the second-tier continental cup.

Last season, Dortmund ended up as runners-up of the DFB-Pokal after losing to VfL Wolfsburg.

Dortmund will begin the season with new coach Thomas Tuchel, who replaced Jürgen Klopp.

The next day, the season opening event took place with another friendly match against "Team Gold".

They then returned to Germany to face VfL Bochum on 17 July before heading to Bad Ragaz in Switzerland for a training camp.

Competitive matches began on 30 July with the first leg of the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.

In their first Bundesliga game, Dortmund convincingly beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 4–0 with goals from Marco Reus, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and two from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, allowing them to temporarily claim position second in the league, behind rivals Bayern Munich on goal difference.

Players and squad numbers last updated on 28 September 2015.Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules.