1997–98 FC Barcelona season

FC Barcelona returned to its previous glorious league ways under the guidance of new coach Louis van Gaal. The highly rated coach, hired from Ajax Amsterdam, brought lethal striker Sonny Anderson and the attacking midfielder Rivaldo with him. But surprisedly Barcelona sold Ronaldo to Inter Milan just before season begin and thus handed Sonny Anderson as main striker. He introduced Barcelona to his marvelous 4-3-3 formation, in which Rivaldo was a perfect centre forward, scoring 20 goals in the league. Under van Gaal at helm on his first season, Barcelona won their 15th La Liga title, 2nd European Super Cup title as well as 24th Copa del Rey title (thus winning their domestic double) but Barcelona crashed out of the UEFA Champions League, following a lackluster performance in the First Group Phase. In fact, Barcelona ended up last in the group, contributing only single victory, two draws and three defeats and thus preventing Barcelona's first treble glory.

FC Barcelona
1997–98 season
PresidentJosep Lluís Núñez
Head CoachLouis van Gaal
StadiumCamp Nou
La Liga1st
Copa del ReyWinners
UEFA Champions LeagueGroup stage (4th)
Supercopa de EspañaRunners-up
UEFA Super CupWinners
Top goalscorerLeague:
Rivaldo (19)
All:
Rivaldo (28)

Barcelona had a marvelous second half of the season, in which it kept pace with La Liga championship leaders Real Madrid, then passing the Madrids when they had a couple of slips. In the end, a win in the 36th round was more than enough to clinch Barcelona's first league title in four years.

Squad
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. Position Player
1 GK Vítor Baía
2 DF Albert Ferrer
3 DF Abelardo Fernández
4 MF Josep Guardiola (captain)
5 DF Fernando Couto
6 MF Óscar García
7 MF Luís Figo
8 FW Hristo Stoichkov
9 FW Sonny Anderson
10 MF Giovanni
11 MF Rivaldo
12 DF Sergi Barjuán
13 GK Ruud Hesp
14 MF Emmanuel Amunike
15 FW Christophe Dugarry
No. Position Player
16 MF Dragan Ćirić
17 DF Winston Bogarde
18 MF Guillermo Amor
19 FW Juan Antonio Pizzi
20 DF Miguel Ángel Nadal
21 MF Luis Enrique
22 DF Michael Reiziger
23 MF Iván de la Peña
25 GK Carles Busquets
26 MF Albert Celades
27 MF Roger García
28 DF Carles Puyol
29 MF Xavi Hernández
31 MF Mario Rosas
32 MF Jofre

La Liga
Main article: 1997–98 La Liga

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Barcelona (C) 38 23 5 10 78 56 +22 74 1998–99 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2 Athletic Bilbao 38 17 14 7 52 42 +10 65 1998–99 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
3 Real Sociedad 38 16 15 7 60 37 +23 63[lower-alpha 1] 1998–99 UEFA Cup First round
4 Real Madrid 38 17 12 9 63 45 +18 63[lower-alpha 1] 1998–99 UEFA Champions League Group stage[lower-alpha 2]
5 Mallorca 38 16 12 10 55 39 +16 60[lower-alpha 3] 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round[lower-alpha 4]
Source: LFP
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. RMA 2–0 RSO; RSO 4–2 RMA
  2. Real Madrid was qualified directly for the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League as holders.
  3. MLL: 9 pts; CEL: 5 pts; ATM: 2 pts
  4. Since Barcelona, winners of 1997–98 Copa del Rey, was qualified for the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, losing cup finalists RCD Mallorca earned a spot in the first round of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

Matches
31 August 1997 1FC Barcelona3-0Real SociedadBarcelona
Rivaldo 26' 80'
Giovanni 56'		 Report Stadium: Camp Nou
8 September 1997 2Valencia CF0-3FC BarcelonaValencia
Report Anderson 1'
Rivaldo 37' (pen.)
de la Pena 81'		 Stadium: Estadio Mestalla
13 September 1997 3FC Barcelona2-1Deportivo La CoruñaBarcelona
Luis Enrique 23'
Anderson 87'		 Report Luizão 89' Stadium: Camp Nou
27 September 1997 4Sporting de Gijon1-4FC BarcelonaGijon
Bango 30' Report Luis Enrique 2' 73'
Rivaldo 8' 82'		 Stadium: Estadio El Molinon
5 October 1997 5FC Barcelona3-2CD TenerifeBarcelona
Óscar 6' 31'
Luis Enrique 50'		 Report Juanele 24'
Pablo Paz 28'		 Stadium: Camp Nou
14 October 1997 6RCD Mallorca0-1FC BarcelonaPalma de Mallorca
Report Luis Enrique 5' Stadium: Estadio Son Moix
18 October 1997 7SD Compostela2-2FC BarcelonaSantiago de Compostela
Penev 36'
Nacho 56'		 Report Óscar 59'
Rivaldo 73'
26 October 1997 8FC Barcelona2-0Racing de SantanderBarcelona
Óscar 51'
Luis Enrique 68'		 Report Stadium: Camp Nou
1 November 1997 9Real Madrid2-3FC BarcelonaMadrid
Raúl 48'
Šuker 61'		 Report Rivaldo 5'
Luis Enrique 50'
Giovanni 79'		 Stadium: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
9 November 1997 10FC Barcelona1-2Real ValladolidBarcelona
Juan Pizzi 89' Report Eusebio 10'
Peternac 50'		 Stadium: Camp Nou
13 November 1997 11Athletic de Bilbao3-0FC BarcelonaBilbao
Ziganda 40'
Alkiza 50'
Urzáiz 72'		 Report Stadium: Estadio San Mames
16 November 1997 12FC Barcelona3-2Celta de VigoBarcelona
Eggen 10' (own goal)
Rivaldo 60'
Juan Pizzi 66'		 Report Cadete 37'
Juan Sánchez 84'		 Stadium: Camp Nou
22 November 1997 13Real Oviedo1-0FC BarcelonaOviedo
Roberto Pompei 67' (pen.) Report Stadium: Estadio Carlos Tartiere
1 December 1997 14FC Barcelona3-1CP MeridaBarcelona
Anderson 34'
Luis Enrique 70'
Rivaldo 73' (pen.)		 Report Sinval 81' (pen.) Stadium: Camp Nou
6 December 1997 15Real Zaragoza1-2FC BarcelonaZaragoza
Aragón 54' Report Sergi Barjuan 17'
Rivaldo 30'		 Stadium: Estadio La Romareda
13 December 1997 16FC Barcelona3-1RCD EspanyolBarcelona
Luis Enrique 24'
Giovanni 51'
Sergi Barjuan 72'		 Report Juan Esnáider 58' (pen.) Stadium: Camp Nou
20 December 1997 18FC Barcelona3-1Atletico de MadridBarcelona
Luis Enrique 48' 70'
Giovanni 65' (pen.)		 Report Roberto 21' Stadium: Camp Nou
5 January 1998 19UD Salamanca4-3FC BarcelonaSalamanca
Zegarra 43'
Brito 80' (pen.) 83'
Silvani 88'		 Report Anderson 12'
Luis Enrique 50'
Giovanni 68'
11 January 1998 20Real Sociedad2-2FC BarcelonaSan Sebastian
Loren 82'
de Paula 89'		 Report Luis Enrique 30'
Anderson 70'		 Stadium: Estadio Anoeta
19 January 1998 21FC Barcelona3-4Valencia CFBarcelona
Luis Enrique 32'
Rivaldo 49'
Cáceres 54' (o.g.)		 Report Morigi 69'
Claudio Lopez 75' 87'
Ariel Ortega 89'		 Stadium: Camp Nou
25 January 1998 22Deportivo La Coruña3-1FC BarcelonaLa Coruña
Fran 3'
Abreu 75'
Djalminha 84'		 Report Donato 85' (o.g.) Stadium: Estadio Riazor
1 February 1998 23FC Barcelona2-1Sporting de GijonBarcelona
Rivaldo 18' 37' Report Cheryshev 35' Stadium: Camp Nou
8 February 1998 24CD Tenerife1-1FC BarcelonaSanta Cruz de la Palma
Jokanović 46' Report Rivaldo 44' Stadium: Estadio Heliodoro Rodriguez
15 February 1998 25FC Barcelona0-0RCD MallorcaBarcelona
Report Stadium: Camp Nou
22 February 1998 26FC Barcelona2-0SD CompostelaBarcelona
Luis Figo 14'
Luis Enrique 29'		 Report Stadium: Camp Nou
2 March 1998 27Racing de Santander2-4FC BarcelonaSantander
Correa 10' (pen.)
Alberto 80'		 Report Rivaldo 69' 72'
Anderson 82' 89'		 Stadium: Estadio El Sardinero
7 March 1998 28FC Barcelona3-0Real MadridBarcelona
Anderson 69'
Luis Figo 80'
Giovanni 85'		 Report Stadium: Camp Nou
15 March 1998 29Real Valladolid1-2FC BarcelonaValladolid
Chema 12' Report Rivaldo 56'
Luis Figo 89'		 Stadium: Estadio Jose Zorrilla
22 March 1998 30FC Barcelona4-0Athletic de BilbaoBarcelona
Giovanni 3'
Anderson 13' 47'
Óscar 79'		 Report Stadium: Camp Nou
29 March 1998 31Celta de Vigo3-1FC BarcelonaVigo
Revivo 21'
Mostovoi 32'
Mazinho 70'		 Report Luis Enrique 27' Stadium: Estadio Balaidos
4 April 1998 32FC Barcelona2-1Real OviedoBarcelona
Luis Enrique 31'
Bogarde 41'		 Report Bogarde 69' (o.g.) Stadium: Camp Nou
7 April 1998 17Real Betis0-2FC BarcelonaSevilla
Report Giovanni 52'
Rivaldo 59'		 Stadium: Estadio Benito Villamarin
11 April 1998 33CP Merida1-2FC BarcelonaMerida
Biagini 80' Report Luis Figo 66'
Luis Enrique 71'
18 April 1998 34FC Barcelona1-0Real ZaragozaBarcelona
Giovanni 77' Report Stadium: Camp Nou
25 April 1998 35RCD Espanyol1-1FC BarcelonaBarcelona
Sergio 56' Report Luis Figo 37' Stadium: Lluys Company Montjuic
3 May 1998 36FC Barcelona1-3Real BetisBarcelona
Bogarde 24' Report Alfonso 44'
George 58' 89'		 Stadium: Camp Nou
10 May 1998 37Atletico de Madrid5-2FC BarcelonaMadrid
Paunović 19'
Couto 25' (o.g.)
Vieri 60' 82'
Caminero 70'		 Report Rivaldo 12'
de la Pena 81'		 Stadium: Estadio Vicente Calderon
15 May 1998 38FC Barcelona1-4UD SalamancaBarcelona
Jofre 89' Report Silvani 18'
Pauleta 52' 55'
Brito 72'		 Stadium: Camp Nou

Results

See also

References
  1. "FootballSquads - Barcelona - 1997/98". Archived from the original on 2013-07-13. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.