1997–98 SSC Napoli season

Napoli
1997–98 season
President	Corrado Ferlaino
Manager	Bortolo Mutti ; (until 6 October 1997) ; Carlo Mazzone ; (until 24 November 1997) ; Giovanni Galeone ; (until 9 February 1998) ; Vincenzo Montefusco
Stadium	San Paolo
Serie A	18th (in 1998-99 Serie B)
Coppa Italia	Last 16
Top goalscorer	Claudio Bellucci (10)
	← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Last updated November 03, 2024

S.S.C. Napoli crashed out of Serie A following a disastrous season. It only clinched 14 points out of 34 matches, despite having the services of several experienced Serie A players. Napoli went through four coaches over the course of the season, and hardly took a point in the second half of the season. Given the disastrous form of the team, Claudio Bellucci's ten goals were impressive, while thought top scorer Igor Protti was one of the largest disappointments of the entire series. The lack of defensive skills cost Napoli many points, and more than two goals were conceded on average. This was despite Roberto Ayala's brilliance, which earned him a transfer to Milan.

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ITA	Giuseppe Taglialatela
—	GK	ITA	Raffaele Di Fusco
—	GK	ITA	Ferdinando Coppola
—	DF	ARG	Roberto Ayala
—	DF	ITA	Francesco Baldini
—	DF	ITA	Luigi Malafronte
—	DF	ITA	Mauro Facci
—	DF	BEL	Bertrand Crasson
—	DF	ITA	Raffaele Sergio
—	DF	ITA	Luigi Panarelli
—	DF	FRA	William Prunier
—	DF	ITA	Guglielmo Stendardo
—	DF	ITA	Mirko Taccola
—	DF	ITA	Mirko Conte
—	MF	ITA	Marco Zamboni


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ITA	Raffaele Longo
—	MF	ITA	Francesco Turrini
—	MF	ITA	Roberto Goretti
—	MF	ITA	Massimiliano Esposito
—	MF	ITA	Giuseppe Giannini
—	MF	ITA	Fabio Rossitto
—	MF	FRA	Reynald Pedros
—	MF	ITA	Gennaro Scarlato
—	MF	ITA	Massimiliano Allegri
—	MF	CRO	Aljoša Asanović
—	MF	ITA	Angelo Cimadomo
—	MF	ITA	Luca Altomare
—	FW	ITA	Claudio Bellucci
—	FW	ITA	Igor Protti
—	FW	ITA	Gennaro Scarlato
—	FW	YUG	Damir Stojak
—	FW	ITA	Salvatore Bruno
—	FW	ARG	José Luis Calderón

Transfers

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
FW	Igor Protti	Lazio	loan
MF	Fabio Rossitto	Udinese
DF	Raffaele Sergio	Udinese
FW	Claudio Bellucci	Venezia
FW	José Luis Calderón	Independiente
DF	Mirko Conte	Piacenza
MF	Giuseppe Giannini	Sturm Graz
DF	William Prunier	Manchester United
DF	Mauro Facci	Salernitana

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type
MF	Beto	Flamengo
FW	Nicola Caccia	Atalanta
MF	Alain Boghossian	Sampdoria
DF	Francesco Colonnese	Inter
DF	André Cruz	A.C. Milan
FW	Alfredo Aglietti	Verona
FW	Dino Fava Passaro	Acireale
MF	Fabio Pecchia	Juventus
DF	Mauro Milanese	Parma
FW	Caio	Santos

Winter

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
FW	Damir Stojak	Vojvodina
MF	Reynald Pedros	Parma
MF	Massimiliano Allegri	Padova
FW	Aljoša Asanović	Derby County

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type
FW	José Luis Calderón	Independiente
DF	Mirko Conte	Vicenza
DF	Mirko Taccola	Lucchese
DF	Alessandro Sbrizzo	Padova
DF	William Prunier	Hearts
MF	Massimiliano Esposito	Hellas Verona
DF	Marco Zamboni	Chievo
MF	Giuseppe Giannini	Lecce

Competitions

Serie A

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
14	Vicenza	34	9	9	16	36	61	−25	36
15	Brescia (R)	34	9	8	17	45	63	−18	35	Relegation to Serie B
16	Atalanta (R)	34	7	11	16	25	48	−23	32
17	Lecce (R)	34	6	8	20	32	72	−40	26
18	Napoli (R)	34	2	8	24	25	76	−51	14

Source: 1997–98 Serie A, RSSSF.com, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Draw. (Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played).^[1]
(R) Relegated

Results by round

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
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	L	W	D	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	D	L	W	L	L	L	D	D	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	D
Position	11	9	8	12	14	14	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18

Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed; = Leader, 1998–99 UEFA Champions League Group stage ; = 1998–99 UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying round ; = 1998–99 UEFA Cup First round ; = Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round ; = Qualification to Intertoto Cup third round ; = 1998–99 Serie B

Matches

31 August 19971	Lazio	2–0	Napoli	Roma
	Mancini 68' Pancaro 76'			Stadium: Olimpico

14 September 19972	Napoli	2–1	Empoli	Napoli
	Bellucci 33' Protti 48'		C. Esposito 77'	Stadium: San Paolo

21 September 19973	Vicenza	1–1	Napoli	Vicenza
	Di Napoli 17'		Turrini 18'

28 September 19974	Napoli	0–1	Atalanta	Napoli
			Caccia 50'	Stadium: San Paolo

05 October 1997 5	Roma	6–2	Napoli	Roma
	Candela 16' Gautieri 34' Balbo 51, 60, 89' Di Francesco 53'		Altomare 71' Bellucci 87' (pen.)	Stadium: Olimpico

18 October 19976	Napoli	0–2	Internazionale	Napoli
			Galante 10' Turrini 69' (o.g.)	Stadium: San Paolo

02 November 19977	Bologna	5–1	Napoli	Bologna
	R. Baggio 48' (pen.)90'90 + 5' (pen.) K. Andersson 55, 90 + 3'		Goretti 14'	Stadium: Renato Dall'Ara

09 November 1997 8	Napoli	1–2	Juventus	Napoli
	Bellucci 55'		Zidane 38' Fonseca 88'	Stadium: San Paolo

23 November 19979	Lecce	2–0	Napoli	Lecco
	M. Rossi 50' Palmieri 61'

30 November 199710	Napoli	1–1	Fiorentina	Napoli
	Turrini 34'		28' Firicano	Stadium: San Paolo

07 December 199711	Piacenza	1–0	Napoli	Piacenza
	Rastelli 87'

14 December 199712	Napoli	0–4	Parma	Napoli
			Blomqvist 18' D. Baggio 53' Crespo 65, 73'	Stadium: San Paolo

21 December 199713	Sampdoria	6–3	Napoli	Genova
	Boghossian 35' Montella 42' (pen.)61'90' (pen.) Klinsmann 73' Laigle 76'		Bellucci 15' Protti 70' Rossitto 78'	Stadium: Luigi Ferraris

04 January 199814	Napoli	1–2	Milan	Napoli
	Bellucci 75'		Ganz 52' Leonardo 71'	Stadium: San Paolo

11 January 199815	Udinese	1–1	Napoli	Udine
	Crasson 90 + 2' (o.g.)		Bellucci 27'

18 January 199816	Napoli	0–3	Brescia	Napoli
			Pirlo 13' Koźmiński 53' Diana 90 + 3'	Stadium: San Paolo

25 January 199817	Bari	2–0	Napoli	Bari
	Marcolini 74' Sala 90 + 3'

01 February 199818	Napoli	0–0	Lazio	Napoli
				Stadium: San Paolo

08 February 199819	Empoli	5–0	Napoli	Empoli
	C. Esposito 24' Cappellini 37' Pane 50' Florijančič 70, 75'

11 February 199820	Napoli	2–0	Vicenza	Napoli
	Turrini 43' (pen.) Stojak 47'			Stadium: San Paolo

15 February 199821	Atalanta	1–0	Napoli	Atalanta
	Lucarelli 16'

22 February 1998 22	Napoli	0–2	Roma	Napoli
			Totti 54' Di Biagio 62'	Stadium: San Paolo

28 February 199823	Internazionale	2–0	Napoli	Milano
	Zamorano 63' Ronaldo 73' (pen.)			Stadium: Giuseppe Meazza

08 March 199824	Napoli	0–0	Bologna	Napoli
				Stadium: San Paolo

14 March 1998 25	Juventus	2–2	Napoli	Torino
	Del Piero 46' Zalayeta 75'		Turrini 69' Protti 90 + 2'	Stadium: delle Alpi

22 March 199826	Napoli	2–4	Lecce	Napoli
	Protti 35' (pen.) Altomare 73'		Casale 2' Palmieri 29' Ayala 75' (o.g.) Atelkin 90 + 3'	Stadium: San Paolo

29 March 199827	Fiorentina	4–0	Napoli	Firenze
	Batistuta 40, 67' Robbiati 80' Edmundo 86'			Stadium: Artemio Franchi

05 April 199828	Napoli	1–2	Piacenza	Napoli
	Bellucci 51'		Scienza 34' Dionigi 84' (pen.)	Stadium: San Paolo

11 April 199829	Parma	3–1	Napoli	Parma
	Crespo 3, 86' Apolloni 76'		Bellucci 69'	Stadium: Il Tardini

19 April 199830	Napoli	0–2	Sampdoria	Napoli
			Crasson 33' (o.g.) Laigle 87'	Stadium: San Paolo

26 April 199831	Milan	0–0	Napoli	Milano
				Stadium: San Siro

03 May 199832	Napoli	1–3	Udinese	Napoli
	Turrini 12' (pen.)		Poggi 4' Bierhoff 45, 87'	Stadium: San Paolo

10 May 199833	Brescia	2–1	Napoli	Brescia
	Adani 57' Neri 81'		Bellucci 56'

16 May 199834	Napoli	2–2	Bari	Napoli
	Bellucci 13' Stojak 48'		Guerrero 6' Volpi 37'	Stadium: San Paolo

Statistics

Players statistics

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		1997-98 Serie A
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ITA	Giuseppe Taglialatela	28	-55	27+1	-55
6	DF	ARG	Roberto Ayala	28	0	28	0
15	DF	ITA	Francesco Baldini	30	0	30	0
22	DF	BEL	Bertrand Crasson	22	0	19+3	0
14	MF	ITA	Luca Altomare	24	2	16+8	2
8	MF	ITA	Raffaele Longo	29	0	24+5	0
7	MF	ITA	Francesco Turrini	27	5	26+1	5
18	MF	ITA	Roberto Goretti	26	1	25+1	1
4	MF	ITA	Fabio Rossitto	28	1	28	1
9	FW	ITA	Claudio Bellucci	27	10	27	10
10	FW	ITA	Igor Protti	27	4	24+3	4
12	GK	ITA	Raffaele Di Fusco	7	-19	5+2	-19
5	DF	ITA	Mauro Facci	17	0	17	0
3	DF	ITA	Raffaele Sergio	12	0	11+1	0
16	DF	ITA	Luigi Malafronte	10	0	9+1	0
30	MF	CRO	Aljoša Asanović	15	0	8+7	0
31	FW	YUG	Damir Stojak	13	2	8+5	2
13	DF	ITA	Luigi Panarelli	17	0	6+11	0
19	MF	ITA	Gennaro Scarlato	19	0	6+13	0
28	MF	ITA	Massimiliano Allegri	7	0	6+1	0
25	MF	FRA	Reynald Pedros	3	0	1+2	0
23	GK	ITA	Ferdinando Coppola	1	-2	1	-2
29	FW	ITA	Salvatore Bruno	3	0	1+2	0
17	MF	ITA	Angelo Cimadomo	2	0	0+2	0
33	DF	ITA	Guglielmo Stendardo	1	0	0+1	0
32	DF	ITA	Emanuele Troise	0	0	0	0
Players transferred out during the season
24	DF	ITA	Mirko Conte	9	0	8+1	0
27	MF	ITA	Giuseppe Giannini	4	0	4	0
26	MF	ITA	Marco Zamboni	4	0	3+1	0
11	FW	ARG	José Luis Calderón	6	0	2+4	0
2	DF	FRA	William Prunier	3	0	2+1	0
20	MF	ITA	Massimiliano Esposito	4	0	1+3	0
21	DF	ITA	Alessandro Sbrizzo	2	0	0+2	0

Source: http://calcio-seriea.net/allenatori_squadra/1997/1135/

Related Research Articles

The 2000–01 Serie A was the 99th season of top-tier Italian football, the 69th in a round-robin tournament. It was contested by 18 teams, for the 13th consecutive season since 1988–89.

The 1997–98 Serie A saw Juventus win their 25th national title, with Internazionale placing second; both teams qualified for the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League. Udinese, Roma, Fiorentina, Parma qualified for the 1998–99 UEFA Cup. Lazio qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners Cup courtesy of winning the Coppa Italia. Bologna and Sampdoria qualified for the 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Brescia, Atalanta, Lecce and Napoli were relegated to Serie B.

The 2000–01 season was the 101st season in Società Sportiva Lazio's history and their 13th consecutive season in the top-flight of Italian football. Lazio were unable to defend their Serie A title won in 2000 after finishing third, but won the Supercoppa Italiana.

During the 1997–98 Italian football season, Società Sportiva Lazio competed in the Serie A, Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup.

Associazione Calcio Fiorentina enjoyed its best season in the 1990s on the pitch, but was left wondering what might have been. Leading the domestic Serie A championship a long way into the season, Fiorentina's title charge fell to pieces, as it lost unnecessary points while eventual champions Milan and runners-up Lazio continued winning their matches. In the end, Fiorentina salvaged third place in the league, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League in 1999–2000.

Associazione Sportiva Roma was left trailing in the wake of city rivals Lazio's resurgence to fight for domestic and international glory. In coach Zdeněk Zeman's second season at the reins, Roma finished fifth in the table, and just missed out on qualification for the final Champions League spot. Roma reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, but lost to Atlético Madrid.

The 1998–99 U.C. Sampdoria season ended with the club's relegation to Serie B just eight years after winning the Serie A title in 1990–91. Similarly to Napoli the year prior, the club was no longer a financial power when it came to signing players, while its high-profile signing, Ariel Ortega, did not deliver to the degree Sampdoria had hoped for.

Associazione Calcio Fiorentina had its best season for a long time, finishing tied for third in Serie A, plus winning the Coppa Italia following a clear double victory over Atalanta in the final. Strengthened by Stefan Schwarz and Michele Serena, Fiorentina were able to concede fewer goals than previously, but even though Rui Costa and Gabriel Batistuta continued their special partnership, the goals did not come with such ease as the year before.

In the 1997–98 season, the Italian football club Inter Milan, managed by Luigi Simoni, won the UEFA Cup and achieved second place in the Serie A league.

AC Milan had a second consecutive disastrous season. Fabio Capello returned as coach, following the dismal second half of the 1996–97 league campaign, but failed to turn the corner, and Milan was a shadow of the team he had left the year before. With Capello's reputation seemingly ruined, he was sacked at the end of the season, with Milan finishing a mere 10th in the league.

Juventus Football Club had one of its most successful seasons in the club's history, winning the domestic league competition and reaching the final of the Champions League. There, Juventus stumbled on Real Madrid by Predrag Mijatović' solitary goal, which ensured Juventus lost the final for the second year running. The progress to the final had been much less smooth than in the 1995–96 and 1996–97 European campaigns, prompting fears among supporters that the side was experiencing a decline. Indeed, on their way to the final in Amsterdam, the Italians had lost three games compared to none the previous season. They had needed to win their matchday six fixture against Manchester United to reach the quarter-final, where Dynamo Kyiv held them to a 1–1 draw in Turin in the first leg.

In the 1997-98 season, Udinese Calcio finished third in Serie A, part due to the performances of striker Oliver Bierhoff, who scored 27 league goals in 34 matches. The season was the team's highest final league position since the 1954-55 season.

Associazione Sportiva Roma was reinvigorated under new coach Zdeněk Zeman, who recently had been coaching arch rivals Lazio. Zeman brought his attacking 4–3–3 with him, resulting in Roma scoring 67 goals, but also conceding 42, an extreme rarity in defensive-minded Italian football. Roma finished fourth, three places above Lazio in the table. That was the first time it had happened in five years, which delighted the Roma board, and Zeman stayed on for a further season. The season also saw the international breakthrough of former youth-team product Francesco Totti, who at 21 was ready for increased responsibility and captaincy, responding with 13 league goals from a position on the left-wing of the attack. Also noticeable was new signing Cafu's offensive skills as a right-wing back, granting him a reputation among the world's top wing backs.

During the 1997-98 season Bologna F.C. competed in Serie A and Coppa Italia.

Associazione Calcio Fiorentina came off second best in a competitive battle for fourth in Serie A. Under Alberto Malesani's leadership, Fiorentina played an attacking 3–5–2 formation, where goal scoring duo Gabriel Batistuta and Luís Oliveira scored an accumulated 36 goals between them. Following the end of the season, Malesani accepted an offer from Parma, thus departing the club after only one season in charge. Sensationally, Giovanni Trapattoni became his successor, remarking that Fiorentina was serious about winning the league.

During the 1997–98 season, the club's eighth in Serie A, Parma Associazione Calcio competed in Serie A, the Coppa Italia, and the UEFA Champions League.

Unione Calcio Sampdoria finished ninth in Serie A, despite the absence of club stalwart Roberto Mancini, who had followed coach Sven-Göran Eriksson to Lazio. Former Argentine World Cup-winning coach César Luis Menotti took charge, but failed to match the results of Eriksson, and was replaced by the 1991 championship winning coach Vujadin Boškov, who guided the team to a safe mid-table slot.

Piacenza Calcio recorded their best ever finish in the top echelon of Italian football, finishing 12th in Serie A, but just two points above the relegation zone. This was in spite of key players Pasquale Luiso (Vicenza) and Eusebio Di Francesco (Roma) leaving the club before the season began.

During the 1997-98 season Vicenza competed in Serie A, Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

During the 2000–01 season Brescia Calcio competed in Serie A and Coppa Italia.

References

↑ Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005 "Norme organizzative interne della F.I.G.C. - Art. 51.6" (PDF) (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.

Sources

RSSSF - Italy 1997/98

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[1] Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005 "Norme organizzative interne della F.I.G.C. - Art. 51.6" (PDF) (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.

[1]