1997–98 La Liga

La Liga

Season	1997–98
Champions	Barcelona 15th title
Relegated	Compostela (relegation playoff) Mérida Sporting
Champions League	Real Madrid (group stage) (via UEFA Champions League) Barcelona (group stage) Athletic Bilbao (second qualifying round)
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Mallorca (first round) (Copa del Rey runner-up)
UEFA Cup	Real Sociedad (first round) Celta Vigo (first round) Atlético Madrid (first round) Betis (first round)
Intertoto Cup	Valencia (third round) Espanyol (second round)
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1009 (2.66 per match)
Top goalscorer	Christian Vieri (24)
Biggest home win	Salamanca 6–0 Valencia (12 April 1998)[1]
Biggest away win	Real Oviedo 0–5 Real Sociedad (19 October 1997)[2]
Highest scoring	Salamanca 5–4 Atlético Madrid (21 March 1998)[3]
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 La Liga season, the 67th since its establishment, started on 30 August 1997 and finished on 16 May 1998. On 29 March 1998, Sporting Gijón drew 0-0 with Real Zaragoza while Racing Santander, who were 19th in the table at the time, lost by Athletic Bilbao 4-3, to make Sporting Gijón the first team in La Liga history to be relegated in March, ending the season with a League record low points tally of just 13.

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from 1996–97 Segunda División

• CP Mérida
• UD Salamanca
• RCD Mallorca

Teams relegated to 1997–98 Segunda División

• Rayo Vallecano
• CF Extremadura
• Sevilla FC
• Hércules CF
• CD Logroñés

Team information

Clubs and locations

Athletic  

Atlético

Barcelona

Betis

Compostela

Celta

Deportivo   

Espanyol

Mallorca

Mérida

Oviedo    

Racing  

Real Madrid

Real Sociedad

Salamanca

Sporting    

Valencia

Valladolid

Zaragoza

Location of teams in La Liga 1997–98

Tenerife

Canary Islands

1997-98 season was composed of the following clubs:

• Athletic Bilbao
• Atlético Madrid
• FC Barcelona
• Betis
• Celta de Vigo
• SD Compostela
• Deportivo de La Coruña
• RCD Espanyol
• RCD Mallorca
• CP Mérida
• Racing de Santander
• Real Madrid
• Real Oviedo
• Real Sociedad
• UD Salamanca
• Sporting de Gijón
• Tenerife
• Valencia CF
• Valladolid
• Zaragoza

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation	Head-to-head
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	1998–99 UEFA Cup First round	RMA 2–0 RSO RSO 4–2 RMA
4	Real Madrid	38	17	12	9	63	45	+18	63	1998–99 UEFA Champions League Group stage ^1
5	Mallorca	38	16	12	10	55	39	+16	60	1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round ^2	MLL: 9 pts CEL: 5 pts ATM: 2 pts
6	Celta de Vigo	38	17	9	12	54	47	+7	60	1998–99 UEFA Cup First round
7	Atlético Madrid	38	16	12	10	79	56	+23	60
8	Betis	38	17	8	13	49	50	−1	59
9	Valencia	38	16	7	15	58	52	+6	55	1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round
10	Espanyol	38	12	17	9	44	31	+13	53	1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup Second round
11	Valladolid	38	13	11	14	36	47	−11	50
12	Deportivo La Coruña	38	12	13	13	44	46	−2	49
13	Zaragoza	38	12	12	14	45	53	−8	48
14	Racing Santander	38	12	9	17	46	55	−9	45		RAC: 8 pts SAL: 4 pts → SAL 2-0 TEN TEN: 4 pts → TEN 2-0 SAL
15	Salamanca	38	12	9	17	46	46	0	45
16	Tenerife	38	11	12	15	44	57	−13	45
17	Compostela (R)	38	11	11	16	56	66	−10	44	Relegation Playoffs 1998
18	Oviedo (O)	38	9	13	16	36	51	−15	40
19	Mérida (R)	38	9	12	17	33	53	−20	39	Relegation to Segunda División
20	Sporting Gijón (R)	38	2	7	29	31	80	−49	13

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
¹Real Madrid was qualified directly for the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League as holders.

²Since 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.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Head-to-Head: used when head-to-head record is used to rank tied teams.

Positions by round

Team \ Round
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Barcelona	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Athletic Bilbao	17	16	13	15	15	13	11	9	8	8	8	8	9	11	9	8	7	5	6	4	4	5	4	5	6	7	8	7	6	6	6	6	6	3	3	2	2	2
Real Sociedad	20	12	15	8	10	8	7	4	6	5	6	6	6	4	5	5	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	5	4	3	3	3	3	5	4	4	3	3
Real Madrid	10	7	3	3	4	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	4	4
Mallorca	6	9	2	2	2	4	4	5	7	6	7	7	7	8	10	11	9	8	9	9	9	9	6	6	7	5	7	8	9	8	7	4	4	4	5	5	5	5
Celta de Vigo	7	10	4	4	3	5	5	6	4	3	3	3	5	6	6	6	6	4	7	7	6	6	7	7	5	6	5	3	3	4	4	5	5	6	6	7	8	6
Atlético Madrid	9	2	9	10	6	3	3	7	5	4	5	5	3	3	3	3	4	6	4	5	5	4	5	4	4	3	3	4	7	7	8	9	8	7	8	9	7	7
Betis	2	5	12	14	7	9	9	8	9	10	10	12	11	10	7	7	8	9	8	8	8	8	9	8	8	10	6	6	5	5	5	7	7	8	7	6	6	8
Valencia	14	18	18	18	17	16	17	16	17	17	18	17	17	18	19	16	13	13	13	15	13	11	10	11	11	9	10	9	8	9	9	8	9	9	9	8	9	9
Espanyol	3	6	8	7	8	6	6	3	2	7	4	4	4	5	4	4	5	7	5	6	7	7	8	9	10	8	9	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Valladolid	16	20	19	20	20	18	19	19	18	18	17	18	18	17	18	14	16	14	16	18	16	19	19	16	15	14	12	12	13	13	12	11	11	10	11	11	11	11
Deportivo La Coruña	12	13	16	11	11	15	14	14	15	16	12	13	15	14	14	15	17	17	17	14	14	14	11	12	13	12	14	13	14	11	13	12	12	11	12	13	13	12
Zaragoza	13	14	11	13	13	12	15	12	10	11	13	11	10	9	11	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	13	10	9	11	11	10	10	12	11	13	13	14	13	12	12	13
Racing Santander	8	11	6	9	5	7	8	11	14	15	14	15	13	12	12	12	12	11	12	11	11	13	14	14	14	15	16	16	16	17	19	16	14	13	14	14	14	14
Salamanca	15	17	14	16	16	17	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	16	17	14	15	14	16	18	15	17	19	19	18	17	15	17	16	17	17	15	15	15	15	15	15
Tenerife	11	8	5	5	9	11	12	10	12	13	15	16	16	16	17	19	19	19	18	19	19	16	18	18	18	16	18	18	19	18	18	18	18	17	16	16	16	16
Compostela	4	3	10	12	12	14	13	15	13	14	16	14	14	15	15	18	18	18	19	17	15	18	15	15	17	19	19	19	18	19	16	19	19	19	18	17	17	17
Real Oviedo	5	4	7	6	14	10	10	13	11	9	9	9	8	7	8	10	11	12	11	12	12	12	12	13	12	13	13	14	12	14	14	14	16	16	17	19	18	18
Mérida	18	15	17	17	18	19	16	17	16	12	11	10	12	13	13	13	15	16	15	13	17	17	16	17	16	17	15	17	15	15	15	15	17	18	19	18	19	19
Sporting de Gijón	19	19	20	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20

Source: LFP 1-4 5-8 9-12 13-16 17-20

Note: UEFA Cup Winners' Cup spot (in yellow) being non-related with a position in La Liga, does not appear until the team is assured to be qualified. Conditions to be assured are: Copa del Rey winner cannot reach UEFA Champions League's places or one of finalists' Copa del Rey cannot qualify mathematically to UEFA Champions League. Barcelona was qualified to UEFA Champions League since 33rd round, since this round, Mallorca's places are coloured in yellow where place is not of Champions League. In light yellow the spot expected for 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

	Leader
	1998–99 UEFA Champions League Group stage
	1998–99 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
	1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round
	1998–99 UEFA Cup First round
	1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round
	1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup Second round
	Play-off relegation to 1998–99 Segunda División
	Relegation to 1998–99 Segunda División

Results

Home ╲ Away

ATH

ATM

FCB

BET

CEL

COM

RCD

ESP

MLL

MER

RAC

RMA

ROV

RSO

SAL

RSG

TEN

VCF

VLD

ZAR

Athletic Bilbao

1–0

3–0

0–0

2–1

2–0

1–1

1–3

3–1

5–1

4–3

1–1

3–0

1–1

1–0

2–2

3–0

0–3

2–0

1–0

Atlético Madrid

3–0

5–2

0–0

3–3

3–1

3–0

0–2

2–3

4–0

2–1

1–1

4–1

2–2

1–1

2–1

2–2

3–1

5–0

2–1

Barcelona

4–0

3–1

1–3

3–2

2–0

2–1

3–1

0–0

3–1

2–0

3–0

2–1

3–0

1–4

2–1

3–2

3–4

1–2

1–0

Betis

1–1

2–3

0–2

2–0

1–0

1–0

1–3

2–1

2–1

0–2

3–2

1–1

0–0

2–1

2–1

3–0

1–0

3–0

3–3

Celta de Vigo

1–1

1–1

3–1

2–0

3–3

2–1

1–0

1–0

2–0

1–2

2–1

3–0

2–1

4–1

1–0

0–0

1–0

2–0

2–1

Compostela

1–4

2–1

2–2

2–3

0–0

0–0

1–1

2–2

3–0

3–1

2–3

1–0

1–3

2–0

2–0

1–2

3–1

0–0

2–0

Deportivo La Coruña

3–0

2–2

3–1

2–0

1–1

2–6

1–1

1–1

0–1

4–1

2–2

2–1

1–1

1–0

2–1

1–0

1–2

1–3

2–1

Espanyol

0–1

2–2

1–1

5–0

1–1

1–0

2–0

1–0

0–0

0–0

1–0

0–0

0–3

3–0

1–1

2–0

3–0

2–0

0–1

Mallorca

4–0

2–1

0–1

1–2

4–2

2–1

0–0

2–2

1–0

2–1

0–0

1–1

0–1

1–0

6–2

5–1

2–1

1–1

0–2

Mérida

0–0

2–1

1–2

1–3

4–0

3–3

1–0

1–1

0–0

1–2

2–2

2–1

3–1

1–0

1–0

1–1

1–0

0–0

0–1

Racing Santander

0–0

0–1

2–4

2–0

2–1

1–1

0–1

1–1

0–1

2–0

1–2

0–0

3–1

1–0

4–1

2–1

2–1

1–2

2–3

Real Madrid

0–0

1–1

2–3

1–0

3–1

2–1

0–0

2–1

2–0

1–0

2–2

5–1

2–0

1–0

3–0

3–0

1–2

3–1

0–2

Oviedo

1–2

0–2

1–0

0–0

3–1

1–1

1–1

1–1

0–1

2–0

0–1

1–1

0–5

2–0

2–1

1–0

0–0

0–1

3–0

Real Sociedad

1–1

0–0

2–2

2–0

2–1

5–1

1–1

2–0

1–0

2–1

1–0

4–2

2–2

1–1

2–1

1–1

1–1

3–0

0–1

Salamanca

0–0

5–4

4–3

0–0

0–1

0–1

4–1

2–1

1–1

3–1

0–0

0–2

0–2

0–0

4–0

2–0

6–0

1–0

1–2

Sporting Gijón

1–2

2–3

1–4

2–3

0–1

0–2

0–3

1–0

1–3

0–0

2–1

0–2

1–2

0–2

1–1

0–2

0–3

1–2

2–3

Tenerife

0–2

2–2

1–1

3–1

1–3

5–1

0–0

0–0

1–4

1–1

2–2

4–3

1–0

0–0

2–0

2–1

3–2

1–0

0–0

Valencia

1–1

4–1

0–3

1–0

2–1

4–1

1–0

0–0

0–0

3–0

6–1

0–2

1–1

3–2

0–1

2–2

1–2

1–2

2–1

Valladolid

3–0

2–1

1–2

1–3

0–0

4–1

1–0

0–0

0–0

0–0

0–0

1–1

1–0

0–4

1–2

1–1

2–1

0–3

4–0

Zaragoza

1–1

1–5

1–2

3–1

1–0

2–2

1–2

1–1

2–3

1–1

2–0

2–2

3–3

0–0

1–1

0–0

1–0

0–2

0–0

Source: LFP (Spanish)
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

Relegation playoff

Home Matches:
Villarreal CF	0–0	SD Compostela
Real Oviedo	3–0	UD Las Palmas

Away Matches:
SD Compostela	1–1	Villarreal CF	Agg:1-1(ag)
UD Las Palmas	3–1	Real Oviedo	Agg:3-4

Awards

Pichichi Trophy

The Pichichi Trophy is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season.

Rank	Goalscorers	Goals	Club
1	Christian Vieri	24	Atlético Madrid
2	Rivaldo	19	Barcelona
3	Luis Enrique	18	Barcelona
4	Darko Kovačević	17	Real Sociedad
5	Lyuboslav Penev	16	Compostela
6	Pauleta	15	Salamanca
7	Fernando Correa	14	Racing Santander
8	Juan Esnáider	13	Espanyol
	Alen Peternac	13	Valladolid
	Gabriel Amato	13	Mallorca

Zamora Trophy

The Zamora Trophy is awarded to the goalkeeper with least goals to games ratio.

Rank	Goalkeeper	Goals	Matches	Average	Team
1	Toni Jiménez	31	37	0.84	Espanyol
2	Alberto López	37	38	0.97	Real Sociedad
3	Bogdan Stelea	32	30	1.07	Salamanca
4	Imanol Etxeberria	42	38	1.11	Athletic Bilbao
5	Andoni Zubizarreta	40	34	1.18	Valencia

Signings

Source: http://www.bdfutbol.com/es/t/t1996-97.html

Team	Goalkeepers	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Barcelona	Ruud Hesp (Roda) 0 0	Winston Bogarde (Milan) Michael Reiziger (Milan) 0	Dragan Ćirić (Partizan) 0 0	Sonny Anderson (Monaco) Christophe Dugarry (Milan) Rivaldo (Dep. La Coruña)
Athletic Bilbao		Rafael Alkorta (Real Madrid) Patxi Ferreira (Valencia) Jesús Lacruz (Osasuna) Mikel Lasa (Real Madrid) Roberto Ríos (Betis)	Gaizka Garitano (Lleida) Javi González (Celta) Txomin Nagore (Osasuna) 0 0	Aitor Huegun (Eibar) 0 0 0 0
Real Sociedad		Mikel Antía (Valladolid) Iker Sarriegi (Eibar)	Dietmar Kühbauer (Rapid Wien) 0	Igor Cvitanović (Croatia Zagreb) Ricardo Sá Pinto (Sporting Portugal)
Real Madrid		Aitor Karanka (Athletic Bilbao) 0	Sávio Bortolini (Flamengo) Christian Karembeu (Sampdoria)	Manuel Canabal (Mérida) Fernando Morientes (Zaragoza)
Mallorca	Carlos Roa (Lanús) 0 0 0 0 0	Iván Campo (Valencia) Milan Milijaš (Zemun) Enrique Romero (Valencia) 0 0 0	Vicente Engonga (Valencia) Xabier Eskurza (Valencia) Óscar Mena (Lanús) Palhinha (Cruzeiro) Paco Sanz (Racing Santander) Juan Carlos Valerón (Las Palmas)	Gabriel Amato (Hércules) Gabi Moya (Valencia) 0 0 0 0
Celta Vigo		Goran Đorović (Crvena Zvezda) Dan Eggen (Brøndby) Michel Salgado (Salamanca)	Ito Álvarez (Extremadura) Bruno Caires (Benfica) Valeri Karpin (Valencia)	Jorge Cadete (Celtic) 0 0
Atlético Madrid	Pedro Jaro (Betis) 0 0 0	Cristian Dáiz (Málaga) Andrei Frascarelli (At. Paranaense) Ramón González (Valladolid) 0	Paulo Futre (West Ham) Avi Nimni (Maccabi Tel Aviv) 0 0	Rade Bogdanović (JEF United) Jordi Lardín (Espanyol) José Mari Romero (Sevilla) Christian Vieri (Juventus)
Betis		Jorge Otero (Valencia) Roberto Solozábal (At. Madrid) Joaquín Valerio (Albacete)	Fernando Sánchez (Valladolid) 0 0	Oli Álvarez (Oviedo) Ángel Cuéllar (Barcelona) Iván Pérez (Extremadura)
Valencia	Gustavo Campagnuolo (Dep. Español) 0 0 0 0 0	Jocelyn Angloma (Internazionale) Amedeo Carboni (Roma) Miroslav Đukić (Dep. La Coruña) Juanfran García (Levante) 0 0	Marcelinho Carioca (Corinthians) Gerard López (Barcelona B) Luis Milla (Real Madrid) Guillermo Morigi (Vélez Sarsfield) Moussa Saïb (Auxerre) José del Solar (Celta)	Adrian Ilie (Galatasaray) Nico Olivera (Defensor) 0 0 0 0
Espanyol		Goran Milošević (Iraklis) 0 0	Roberto Fresnedoso (At. Madrid) Constantin Gâlcă (Mallorca) José Mari García (Alavés)	Juan Esnáider (Atlético Madrid) Quique Martín (Mérida) 0
Valladolid	José Belman (Zaragoza) 0 0	Chavo Díaz (River Plate (M)) José García Calvo (Real Madrid) Gabriel Heinze (Newell's Old Boys)	Chema Jiménez (Atlético Madrid B) Eusebio Sacristán (Celta) 0	Juan Carlos Gómez Diego Klimowicz (Rayo Vallecano) 0
Deportivo La Coruña	Peter Rufai (Hércules) 0 0 0	Luis Ramis (Sevilla) Lionel Scaloni (Estudiantes LP) 0 0	Djalminha (Palmeiras) Mustapha Hadji (Sporting Port.) 0 0	Sebastián Abreu (San Lorenzo) Salaheddine Bassir (Al-Hilal) Luizão Goulart (Palmeiras) Manteca Martínez (Boca Juniors)
Zaragoza		Gary Sundgren (AIK) 0 0 0	Roberto Acuña (Independiente) José Ignacio Sáenz (Valencia) Marcos Vales (Sporting Gijón) Nordin Wooter (Ajax)	Yordi González (Atlético Madrid) Paulo Jamelli (Kashiwa Reysol) Pier Loggi (Betis) 0
Racing Santander		José Manuel Sietes (Valencia) Washington Tais (Peñarol) 0 0	Nelson Abeijón (Nacional Montev.) Ignacio Conte (Tenerife) José Félix Guerrero (Eibar) Hugo Porfírio (Sporting Portugal)	Nando Có (Vitória Setubal) 0 0 0
Salamanca	Bogdan Stelea (Steaua) 0 0 0 0 0	Rogerio Brito (Os Belenenses) Sergio Korino (Athletic Bilbao) Marco Lanna (Roma) Gustavo Lombardi (River Plate) Dubravko Pavličić (Hércules) Axel Smeets (Gent)	Edu Alonso (Athletic Bilbao) Gabi Popescu (University of Craiova) Manuel Tulipa (Boavista) 0 0 0	Ronen Harazi (Beitar) Walter Silvani (Extremadura) 0 0 0 0
Tenerife	Juan Carlos Unzué (Sevilla) 0	André Luiz Moreira (Corinthians) Ferdi Vierklau (Vitesse)	Emerson Costa (Mifddlebrough) Samuel Slovák (Slovan Bratislava)	Roy Makaay (Vitesse) Domingos Paciência (Porto)
Compostela	René Ponk (Utrecht) 0 0 0 0	Francisco Agirretxu (Celta) Toño Castro (Almería) Jean-Fr. Hernandez (Ol. Marseille) Pignol (Aubargne) Óscar Tabuenka (Athletic Bilbao)		Romano Sion (Emmen) 0 0 0 0
Oviedo	José María Buljubasich (Lleida) 0	Joyce Moreno (Real Madrid B) 0	Roberto Pompei (Boca Juniors) 0	Julio Dely Valdés (PSG) Juan González (Nacional Montev.)
Mérida	Leo Franco (Independiente) Carlos N. Montoya (Extremadura) 0 0 0 0	Pablo Alfaro (Atlético Madrid) José Cortés (Extremadura) Ramón de Quintana (Rayo Vallec.) 0 0 0	Marcos Martín (Sevilla) Pirri Mori (Compostela) Francisco Ruano (Levante) Gonzalo de los Santos (Peñarol) 0 0	David Ávila (Barcelona B) Leonardo Biagini (Atlético Madrid) Cléber Eduardo (At. Paranaense) Iván Gabrich (Ajax) Dmitri Radchenko (Rayo Vallecano) Juan Sabas (Betis)
Sporting Gijón	Dragoje Leković (Kilmarnock) 0 0 0 0	Carles Mingo (Barcelona B) Roberto Trotta (Rac. Avellaneda) 0 0 0	José Manuel Colmenero (Mallorca) Mario Cotelo (Badajoz) Rodrigão Días (Sporting Braga) Alexei Kosolapov (Lokomotiv Mos.) Antonio Poyatos (Valencia)	Cezary Kucharski (Legia) Kaiku Martín (Levante) Vladimir Popović (Zemun) 0 0

See also

• 1997–98 Segunda División
• 1997–98 Copa del Rey

References

1. "Salamanca 6-0 Valencia". LFP. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
2. "Real Oviedo 0–5 Real Sociedad". LFP. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
3. "Salamanca 5-4 Atlético Madrid". LFP. Retrieved 14 September 2010.