1997–98 UEFA Champions League

1997–98 UEFA Champions League
The Amsterdam Arena held the final
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
23 July – 27 August 1997
Competition proper:
17 September 1997 – 20 May 1998
TeamsCompetition proper: 24
Total: 55
Final positions
Champions Real Madrid (7th title)
Runners-up Juventus
Tournament statistics
Matches played85
Goals scored239 (2.81 per match)
Attendance2,868,568 (33,748 per match)
Top scorer(s)Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)
10 goals

The 1997–98 UEFA Champions League was the 43rd season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier club football tournament, and the sixth since its re-branding from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The tournament was won by Real Madrid, winning for the first time in 32 years, beating 1–0 Juventus who were playing in a third consecutive final. It started a run of three victories in five seasons for the Spanish club.

This season was the first to have six groups, instead of previous four, which meant that only two group runners-up qualified for the quarter-finals as opposed to all the second-placed teams. It was also the first to have two qualifying rounds instead of just one. After three years of entering the UEFA Cup, champions of smaller nations returned to the Champions League. For the first time, the runners-up of eight domestic leagues entered into the competition.[1] With Borussia Dortmund being the title holders but finishing third in their domestic league the previous season, Germany became the first association to provide three teams to the premier European competition.

Borussia Dortmund, the defending champions, were eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual winners Real Madrid.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Slovakia and the Republic of Macedonia all entered their champions for the first time, while the champion of Yugoslavia returned to this competition for the first time since 1991–92 season after the UN ban was lifted.

Association team allocation

Number of teams per country as well as the starting round for each club and seeding were based on UEFA association coefficients.[2]

  • Associations ranked 1–8 each have two participants
  • Associations ranked 9–48 each have one participant (except Liechtenstein and Albania)

Association ranking

For the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 1997 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 1992–93 to 1996–97.[2][3]

Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, an association could have an additional team participating in the Champions League, as noted below:

  • (TH) – Additional berth for UEFA Champions League title holders
Association ranking for 1997–98 UEFA Champions League
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
1  Italy 60.735 2
2  Spain 46.532
3  France 45.733
4  Germany 43.949 +1 (TH)
5  Netherlands 36.350
6  Portugal 34.800
7  England 30.816
8  Turkey 25.000
9  Greece 25.000 1
10  Austria 24.950
11  Russia 24.866
12  Belgium 24.400
13  Denmark 22.950
14  Sweden 22.750
15  Norway 22.249
16  Czech Republic 21.666
17  Switzerland 21.500
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
18  Poland 19.500 1
19  Scotland 18.800
20  Romania 18.650
21  Croatia 18.500
22  Ukraine 17.998
23  Cyprus 16.665
24  Israel 16.416
25  Hungary 16.249
26  Georgia 16.000
27  Slovakia 15.999
28  Latvia 13.832
29  Slovenia 12.998
30  Finland 12.082
31  Belarus 11.500
32  Iceland 10.999
33  Bulgaria 10.666
34  Macedonia 7.333
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
35  Lithuania 6.000 1
36  Moldova 6.000
37  Northern Ireland 5.332
38  Liechtenstein 5.000 0
39  Wales 4.999 1
40  FR Yugoslavia 4.750
41  Estonia 4.666
42  Malta 4.664
43  Republic of Ireland 4.331
44  Armenia 4.166
45  Luxembourg 3.666
46  Faroe Islands 3.000
47  Albania 2.666 0 [Note ALB]
48  Azerbaijan 1.833 1
49  Andorra 0.000 0
50  San Marino 0.000

Distribution

Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from previous round
First qualifying round
(30 teams)
  • 30 champions from associations 17–48 (except Liechtenstein and Albania)[Note ALB]
Second qualifying round
(32 teams)
  • 9 champions from associations 8–16
  • 8 runners-up from associations 1–8
  • 15 winners from the first qualifying round
Group stage
(24 teams)
  • Champions League title holders (Borussia Dortmund)
  • 7 champions from associations 1–7
  • 16 winners from the second qualifying round
Knockout phase
(8 teams)
  • 6 group winners from the group stage
  • 2 best-ranked group runners-up from the group stage

Teams

55 teams entered the competition: the national champions of each of the top 48 nations in the UEFA coefficient rankings (except Liechtenstein and Albania), plus the runners-up from each of the top eight nations and UEFA Champions League holders, Borussia Dortmund. The national champions of the associations ranked 1–7 (Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal and England), plus the title holders, all received a bye to the group stage, while the national champions of the associations ranked 8–16 and the runners-up of the associations ranked 1–8 all entered in the second qualifying round. The remaining national champions from the associations ranked 17–48 entered in the first qualifying round.

Group stage
Borussia Dortmund (TH) Real Madrid (1st) Bayern Munich (1st) Porto (1st)
Juventus (1st) Monaco (1st) PSV Eindhoven (1st) Manchester United (1st)
Second qualifying round
Parma (2nd) Sporting CP (2nd) Olympiacos (1st) Brøndby (1st)
Barcelona (2nd) Newcastle United (2nd) Wüstenrot Salzburg (1st) IFK Göteborg (1st)
Paris Saint-Germain (2nd) Galatasaray (1st) Spartak Moscow (1st) Rosenborg (1st)
Bayer Leverkusen (2nd) Beşiktaş (2nd) Lierse (1st) Sparta Prague (1st)
Feyenoord (2nd)
First qualifying round
Sion (1st) MTK (1st) CSKA Sofia (1st) Lantana (1st)
Widzew Łódź (1st) Dinamo Tbilisi (1st) Sileks (1st) Valletta (1st)
Rangers (1st) Košice (1st) Kareda (1st) Derry City (1st)
Steaua București (1st) Skonto (1st) Constructorul Chișinău (1st) Pyunik (1st)
Croatia Zagreb (1st) Maribor (1st) Crusaders (1st) Jeunesse Esch (1st)
Dynamo Kyiv (1st) Jazz (1st) Barry Town (1st) (1st)
Anorthosis Famagusta (1st) MPKC Mozyr (1st) Partizan (1st) Neftçi (1st)
Beitar Jerusalem (1st) ÍA (1st)
Notes
  1. ^
    Albania (ALB): Clubs from Albania were not admitted to UEFA competitions as 1996–97 Albanian Superliga was suspended for several months due to the 1997 Albanian civil unrest and eventually ended in mid-August 1997 (won by Tirana), past the UEFA deadline.[4]

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held in Geneva, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying First qualifying round 9 July 1997 23 July 1997 30 July 1997
Second qualifying round 13 August 1997 27 August 1997
Group stage Matchday 1 29 August 1997 17 September 1997
Matchday 2 1 October 1997
Matchday 3 22 October 1997
Matchday 4 5 November 1997
Matchday 5 26–27 November 1997
Matchday 6 10 December 1997
Knockout phase Quarter-finals 17 December 1997 4 March 1998 18 March 1998
Semi-finals 20 March 1998
(Lausanne)
1 April 1998 15 April 1998
Final 20 May 1998 at Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam

Qualifying rounds

First qualifying round

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Derry City 0–3 Maribor0–20–1
Pyunik 3–6 MTK0–23–4
Crusaders 2–8 Dinamo Tbilisi1–31–5
Košice 4–0 ÍA3–01–0
Partizan 1–5 Croatia Zagreb1–00–5
Valletta 1–2 Skonto1–00–2
Sileks 1–3 Beitar Jerusalem1–00–3
Steaua București 5–3 CSKA Sofia3–32–0
Constructorul Chișinău 3–4 MPKC Mozyr1–12–3
Lantana 0–3 Jazz0–20–1
 0–11 Rangers0–50–6
Neftçi 0–10 Widzew Łódź0–20–8
Dynamo Kyiv 6–0 Barry Town2–04–0
Sion 5–0 Jeunesse Esch4–01–0
Anorthosis Famagusta 4–1 Kareda3–01–1

Second qualifying round

The losing teams qualified for the first round of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup.

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Beşiktaş 3–1 Maribor0–03–1
MTK 1–4 Rosenborg0–1[a]1–3
Sion 2–8 Galatasaray1–41–4
Olympiacos 7–2 MPKC Mozyr5–02–2
Wüstenrot Salzburg 0–3 Sparta Prague0–00–3
IFK Göteborg 4–1 Rangers3–01–1
Barcelona 4–2 Skonto3–21–0
Brøndby 3–4 Dynamo Kyiv2–41–0
Newcastle United 4–3 Croatia Zagreb2–12–2 (a.e.t.)
Feyenoord 8–3 Jazz6–22–1
Bayer Leverkusen 6–2 Dinamo Tbilisi6–10–1
Košice 2–1 Spartak Moscow2–10–0
Steaua București 3–5 Paris Saint-Germain3–0[b]0–5
Widzew Łódź 1–7 Parma1–30–4
Beitar Jerusalem 0–3 Sporting CP0–00–3
Anorthosis Famagusta 2–3 Lierse2–00–3
Notes:
  1. ^ The original first leg of the MTK v Rosenborg tie was abandoned in the 68th minute with MTK leading 3–2, and replayed from scratch a day later.
  2. ^ The match was awarded to Steaua București after Paris Saint-Germain fielded an ineligible player.

Group stage

Location of teams of the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Green: Group E; Blue: Group F.

Bayer Leverkusen, Beşiktaş, Košice, Feyenoord, Lierse, Newcastle United, Olympiacos, Parma, Sparta Prague (who already qualified for the 1991-92 European Cup group stage) and Sporting CP made their debut in the group stage. Košice lost all six of their group stage matches and thus became the first team to finish a Champions League group stage with no points. They were also first team from Slovakia to play in group stage.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification DOR PRM SPP GAL
1 Borussia Dortmund 6 5 0 1 14 3 +11 15 Advance to knockout stage 2–0 4–1 4–1
2 Parma 6 2 3 1 6 5 +1 9 1–0 2–2 2–0
3 Sparta Prague 6 1 2 3 6 11 −5 5 0–3 0–0 3–0
4 Galatasaray 6 1 1 4 4 11 −7 4 0–1 1–1 2–0
Source: UEFA

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MUN JUV FEY KOS
1 Manchester United 6 5 0 1 14 5 +9 15 Advance to knockout stage 3–2 2–1 3–0
2 Juventus 6 4 0 2 12 8 +4 12 1–0 5–1 3–2
3 Feyenoord 6 3 0 3 8 10 −2 9 1–3 2–0 2–0
4 Košice 6 0 0 6 2 13 −11 0 0–3 0–1 0–1
Source: UEFA


Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification DKV PSV NEW BAR
1 Dynamo Kyiv 6 3 2 1 13 6 +7 11 Advance to knockout stage 1–1 2–2 3–0
2 PSV Eindhoven 6 2 3 1 9 8 +1 9 1–3 1–0 2–2
3 Newcastle United 6 2 1 3 7 8 −1 7 2–0 0–2 3–2
4 Barcelona 6 1 2 3 7 14 −7 5 0–4 2–2 1–0
Source: UEFA

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification RMA ROS OLY POR
1 Real Madrid 6 4 1 1 15 4 +11 13 Advance to knockout stage 4–1 5–1 4–0
2 Rosenborg 6 3 2 1 13 8 +5 11 2–0 5–1 2–0
3 Olympiacos 6 1 2 3 6 14 −8 5 0–0 2–2 1–0
4 Porto 6 1 1 4 3 11 −8 4 0–2 1–1 2–1
Source: UEFA

Group E

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BAY PAR BES GOT
1 Bayern Munich 6 4 0 2 13 6 +7 12 Advance to knockout stage 5–1 2–0 0–1
2 Paris Saint-Germain 6 4 0 2 11 10 +1 12 3–1 2–1 3–0
3 Beşiktaş 6 2 0 4 6 9 −3 6 0–2 3–1 1–0
4 IFK Göteborg 6 2 0 4 4 9 −5 6 1–3 0–1 2–1
Source: UEFA

Group F

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MON LEV SPO LIE
1 Monaco 6 4 1 1 15 8 +7 13 Advance to knockout stage 4–0 3–2 5–1
2 Bayer Leverkusen 6 4 1 1 11 7 +4 13 2–2 4–1 1–0
3 Sporting CP 6 2 1 3 9 11 −2 7 3–0 0–2 2–1
4 Lierse 6 0 1 5 3 12 −9 1 0–1 0–2 1–1
Source: UEFA

Ranking of second-placed teams

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 F Bayer Leverkusen 6 4 1 1 11 7 +4 13 Advance to knockout stage
2 B Juventus 6 4 0 2 12 8 +4 12
3 E Paris Saint-Germain 6 4 0 2 11 10 +1 12
4 D Rosenborg 6 3 2 1 13 8 +5 11
5 C PSV Eindhoven 6 2 3 1 9 8 +1 9
6 A Parma 6 2 3 1 6 5 +1 9
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) Association coefficient; 6) Club coefficient.[5]

Knockout stage

Bracket

Quarter-finals

The quarter-final between German clubs Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund marked the first meeting of two teams from the same country in the Champions League (including the European Cup era, the first game between teams from the same country occurred in 1958–59). With Bayer Leverkusen also having qualified, it marked the first time three clubs from the same nation played in the knockout phase.

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Bayer Leverkusen 1–4 Real Madrid1–10–3
Bayern Munich 0–1 Borussia Dortmund0–00–1 (a.e.t.)
Juventus 5–2 Dynamo Kyiv1–14–1
Monaco 1–1 (a) Manchester United0–01–1

Semi-finals

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Real Madrid 2–0 Borussia Dortmund2–00–0
Juventus 6–4 Monaco4–12–3

Final

The final was played on 20 May 1998 at the Amsterdam Arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Juventus 0–1 Real Madrid
Report
  • Mijatović 66'
Attendance: 48,500[6]

Top goalscorers

Rank Name Team Goals
1 Alessandro Del Piero Juventus 10
2 Thierry Henry Monaco 7
3 Filippo Inzaghi Juventus 6
Serhiy Rebrov Dynamo Kyiv 6
5 Andy Cole Manchester United 5
Andriy Shevchenko Dynamo Kyiv 5
7 Stefan Beinlich Bayer Leverkusen 4
Oktay Derelioğlu Beşiktaş 4
Emerson Bayer Leverkusen 4
Victor Ikpeba Monaco 4
Carsten Jancker Bayern Munich 4
Fernando Morientes Real Madrid 4
Sigurd Rushfeldt Rosenborg 4
Davor Šuker Real Madrid 4
David Trezeguet Monaco 4
Stéphane Chapuisat Borussia Dortmund 4
Harald Brattbakk Rosenborg 4
Roar Strand Rosenborg 4

See also

References

  1. ^ Berlin, Peter (September 19, 1997). "European Soccer: Fans Aren't Cheering Champions League". New York Times. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "UEFA Country Ranking 1997". Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  3. ^ Protzen, Martin (3 June 1997). "FAQ: Qualification and Seeding for the European Cups". RSSSF. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  4. ^ "Albania 1996/97". www.rsssf.org.
  5. ^ "UEFA Champions League: Format". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  6. ^ "2. Finals" (PDF). UEFA Champions League Statistics Handbook 2016/17. Nyon: Union of European Football Associations. 2017. p. 1. Retrieved 22 April 2017.