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 Sonny Anderson subsequently became the main striker. He introduced his 4-3-3 formation to Barcelona, under which Rivaldo scored 20 goals in the league as centre forward. Under van Gaal at helm in 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 a domestic double) but Barcelona crashed out of the UEFA Champions League, following a lacklustre performance in the First Group phase. In fact, Barcelona ended up last in the group, snatching only a single victory, with two draws and three defeats preventing Barcelona from winning the treble.

FC Barcelona
1997–98 season
PresidentJosep Lluís Núñez
Head CoachLouis van Gaal
StadiumCamp Nou
La Liga1st
Copa del ReyWinners
Supercopa de EspañaRunners-up
UEFA Champions LeagueGroup stage (4th)
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 leaders Real Madrid, before ultimately hunting them down.

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.Pos. NationPlayer
18MF  ESPGuillermo Amor
19FW  ESPJuan Antonio Pizzi
20DF  ESPMiguel Ángel Nadal
21MF  ESPLuis Enrique
22DF  NEDMichael Reiziger
23MF  ESPIván de la Peña
25GK  ESPCarles Busquets
26MF  ESPAlbert Celades
27MF  ESPRoger García
28DF  ESPCarles Puyol
29MF  ESPXavi
31MF  ESPMario Rosas
32MF  ESPJofre

Transfers

Summer

NameNationalityFrom/toType
In
Sonny Anderson Monaco
Rivaldo Deportivo La Coruña
Ruud Hesp Roda JC
Michael Reiziger AC Milan
Christophe Dugarry AC Milan
Dragan Ćirić Partizan
Out
Ronaldo Inter Milan
Laurent Blanc Marseille
Gheorghe Popescu Galatasaray
Ángel Cuéllar Real Betis
Julen Lopetegui Rayo Vallecano
Goran Vučević FC Köln
Quique Álvarez LogroñésLoan

Winter

NameNationalityFrom/toType
In
Winston Bogarde AC Milan
Out
Christophe Dugarry Marseille
Hristo Stoichkov CSKA Sofia

Competitions

La Liga

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1Barcelona (C)38235107856+2274Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2Athletic Bilbao38171475242+1065Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3Real Sociedad38161576037+2363[a]Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4Real Madrid38171296345+1863[a]Qualification for the Champions League group stage[b]
5Mallorca381612105539+1660[c]Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round[d]
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) Champions
Notes:

Results by round

Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAH
ResultWWWWWWDWWLLWLWWWWLDLLWDDWWWWWWLWWWDLLL
Position11111111111122111111111111111111111111

Matches

31 August 1997 1 FC Barcelona 3–0 Real Sociedad Barcelona
Rivaldo 26' 80'
Giovanni 56'
ReportStadium: Camp Nou
25 April 1998 35 RCD Espanyol 1–1 FC Barcelona Barcelona
Sergio 56'ReportFigo 37'Stadium: Lluys Company Montjuic

Copa del Rey

Eightfinals

15 January 1998 (1998-01-15) FC Barcelona 2–1 Valencia CF Barcelona
20:30Enrique 4'
Rivaldo 66'
Gómez 37' (pen.)Stadium: Camp Nou
Attendance: 55,000
Referee: Manuel Mejuto González
22 January 1998 (1998-01-22) Valencia CF 1–3 FC Barcelona Valencia
20:30Angloma 68'Rivaldo 26' (pen.) 79'
Giovanni 90'
Stadium: Mestalla Stadium
Attendance: 48,000
Referee: Antonio López Nieto

Quarterfinals

5 February 1998 (1998-02-05) FC Barcelona 2–0 CP Mérida Barcelona
21:00Enrique 16'
Figo 79'
Stadium: Camp Nou
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Víctor Esquinas Torres
11 February 1998 (1998-02-11) CP Mérida 0–3 FC Barcelona Mérida
21:00Barjuán 2'
Rivaldo 52' (pen.)
Ćirić 80'
Stadium: Estadio Romano
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: José López De La Fuente

Semifinals

18 February 1998 (1998-02-18) FC Barcelona 5–2 Real Zaragoza Barcelona
20:30Rivaldo 3' 6' 47'
Giovanni 11'
Enrique 20'
Garitano 1' 40'Stadium: Camp Nou
Attendance: 45,000
Referee: Antonio López Nieto
26 February 1998 (1998-02-26) Real Zaragoza 0–0 FC Barcelona Zaragoza
21:00Stadium: La Romareda
Attendance: 34,000
Referee: Manuel Díaz Vega

Final

UEFA Champions League

Second qualifying round

v Skonto
13 August 1997 Barcelona 3–2 Skonto Camp Nou, Barcelona
21:30Giovanni 27', 70'
Stoichkov 90' (pen.)
ReportBabicevs 26'
Abelardo 46' (o.g.)
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Fernand Meese (Belgium)
v Barcelona
27 August 1997 Skonto 0–1 Barcelona Daugava Stadium, Riga
20:00ReportAnderson 50'Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway)

Group stage

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Dynamo Kyiv6321136+711Advance to knockout stage
2 PSV Eindhoven623198+19
3 Newcastle United621378−17
4 Barcelona6123714−75
Source: UEFA
v PSV Eindhoven
1 October 1997 Barcelona 2–2 PSV Eindhoven Camp Nou, Barcelona
20:45Luis Enrique 61', 74'ReportCocu 70'
Møller 86'
Attendance: 82,000
Referee: Hellmut Krug (Germany)
v Dynamo Kyiv
5 November 1997 Barcelona 0–4 Dynamo Kyiv Camp Nou, Barcelona
20:45ReportShevchenko 9', 32', 44' (pen.)
Rebrov 79'
Attendance: 52,200
Referee: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)

Supercopa de España

20 August 1997 (1997-08-20) FC Barcelona 2–1 Real Madrid CF Barcelona
21:30Nadal 11'
Giovanni 85' (pen.)
Raúl 5'Stadium: Camp Nou
Attendance: 120,000
Referee: Gracia Redondo
23 August 1997 (1997-08-23) Real Madrid CF 4–1 FC Barcelona Madrid
22:00Raúl 42' 54'
Mijatović 58'
Seedorf 65'
ReportGiovanni 80'Stadium: Santiago Bernabéu
Attendance: 70,000
Referee: Dauden Ibáñez

UEFA Super Cup

8 January 1998 (1998-01-08) FC Barcelona 2–0 Borussia Dortmund Barcelona
21:00Enrique 8'
Rivaldo 61' (pen.)
Stadium: Camp Nou
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: David Elleray
11 March 1998 (1998-03-11) Borussia Dortmund 1–1 FC Barcelona Dortmund
20:00Heinrich 64'ReportGiovanni 8'Stadium: Westfalenstadion
Attendance: 32,500
Referee: Piero Ceccarini

Friendlies

Statistics

Players statistics

No.PosNatPlayerTotalLa LigaCopa del ReyUEFA Champions LeagueSupercopaUEFA Super Cup
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
13GK  NEDHesp54-6936-477-57-112-52-1
22DF  NEDReiziger44025+4040802010
2DF  ESPFerrer38021+30404+201+1020
17DF  NEDBogarde24219230000020
12DF  ESPSergi47331261602020
10MF  BRAGiovanni411821+694+1254221+11
26MF  ESPCelades50034+2070500020
21MF  ESPLuis Enrique4725341863431021
7FW  PORFigo51735561711020
9FW  BRAAnderson371120+3104+10512020
11FW  BRARivaldo5128341978602021
1GK  PORBaia3-122-8001-40000
3DF  ESPAbelardo23113+203031100+10
4MF  ESPGuardiola1405+10104+102000
5DF  PORCouto25013+501+104+100000
6MF  ESPÓscar23511+553+1020000+10
8FW  BULStoichkov611+100+100+21000+10
14MF  NGAAmunike100000001000
15FW  FRADugarry1304+30001+300+2000
16MF  YUGCiric3516+1501+215+300+200+10
18MF  ESPAmor33010+1202+201+30200+10
19FW  ESPPizzi2334+1130+400+400000
20DF  ESPNadal33118+304+103+201110
23MF  ESPIván de la Peña22213+4220200010
25GK  ESPBusquets2-21-1001-10000
27MF  ESPRoger2507+1102+30200000
28DF  ESPPuyol0000
29MF  ESPXavi0000
31MF  ESPRosas1010
32MF  ESPJofre110+11

See also

References

External links