1997–98 Bundesliga

The 1997–98 Bundesliga was the 35th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. It began on 1 August 1997[1] and ended on 9 May 1998.[2] FC Bayern Munich were the defending champions. FC Kaiserslautern won the Bundesliga on 1 May 1998 with one match remaining,[3] the only time to date that a newly-promoted team has won the league.

Bundesliga
Season1997–98
Dates1 August 1997 – 9 May 1998
Champions1. FC Kaiserslautern
2nd Bundesliga title
4th German title
RelegatedKarlsruher SC
1. FC Köln
Arminia Bielefeld
Champions League1. FC Kaiserslautern
Bayern Munich
Cup Winners' CupMSV Duisburg (domestic cup finalists)
UEFA CupBayer Leverkusen
VfB Stuttgart
Schalke 04
Intertoto CupHansa Rostock
Werder Bremen
Matches played306
Goals scored853 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorerUlf Kirsten (22)
Biggest home winLeverkusen 6–1 Karlsruhe (23 August 1997)
Leverkusen 6–1 Stuttgart (21 December 1997)
Leverkusen 5–0 Hamburg (18 April 1998)
Biggest away winnine games with a differential of +3 each (2–5 once, 1–4 twice, 0–3 six times)
Highest scoringDuisburg 4–5 M'gladbach (9 goals) (31 October 1997)

Competition modus

Every team played two games against each other team, one at home and one away. Teams received three points for a win and one point for a draw. If two or more teams were tied on points, places were determined by goal difference and, if still tied, by goals scored. The team with the most points were crowned champions while the three teams with the fewest points were relegated to 2. Bundesliga.

Team changes to 1996–97

Fortuna Düsseldorf, SC Freiburg and FC St. Pauli were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga after finishing in the last three places. They were replaced by 1. FC Kaiserslautern, VfL Wolfsburg and Hertha BSC.

Season overview

The 1997–98 Bundesliga battle for the championship was fought between FC Bayern Munich and 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Bayern were the defending champions after having won their 14th German title (their 13th Bundesliga title) in the 1996–97 season while Kaiserslautern were re-promoted to the Bundesliga; they had won the 1996–97 2. Bundesliga season with a ten-point margin after their first Bundesliga relegation at the end of the 1995–96 season. Kaiserslautern was coached by Otto Rehhagel who had been sacked as Bayern coach in the spring of 1996.

Coincidentally, the fixture table was such that both clubs met directly at the first match day. At Munich Olympic Stadium, Kaiserslautern achieved a surprising 1–0 away win. After another win (1–0 against Hertha BSC) they were at the top of the league table after matchday two. They regained this top position after matchday four and eventually stayed there until the end of the season. After the end of the first half of the season, Kaiserslautern was four points ahead of Bayern, and while it was expected by many that the second direct encounter at Fritz-Walter-Stadion would be the start of an eventual change at the top, FCK again beat Bayern, this time 2–0, resulting in a seven-point margin between the two teams after matchday 18. Remarkable matchdays in terms of who would win the championship included round 23 and 24, when Bayern lost two matches in a row, while FCK managed to collect four points. Bayern never overtook Kaiserslautern during the whole season, and after matchday 33, with FCK beating VfL Wolfsburg 4–0 at home while Bayern only achieving a 0–0 draw at MSV Duisburg, Kaiserslautern were the early champions, with four points ahead with only one match remaining. They were the first team in Bundesliga history to win the championship as a newly promoted team.

Another surprise of the season was FC Hansa Rostock who just missed qualification for the UEFA-Cup, and all three newly promoted teams avoided relegation. At the bottom of the table, Arminia Bielefeld was the first team to be relegated, while 1. FC Köln had to go down after a 2–2 draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the final match of the season, ending a consecutive 35-year run of Bundesliga seasons for Cologne and leaving Hamburger SV as the "dinosaur" of the league (that is, the only Bundesliga founding member that had never been relegated until 2018). Karlsruher SC left the league after eleven seasons, while Borussia Mönchengladbach escaped relegation on the last matchday.

Team overview
Location of teams in Bundesliga 1997–98
Club Location Ground[4] Capacity[4]
Hertha BSC Berlin Olympiastadion 76,000
Arminia Bielefeld Bielefeld Stadion Alm 22,512
VfL Bochum Bochum Ruhrstadion 36,344
SV Werder Bremen Bremen Weserstadion 36,000
Borussia Dortmund Dortmund Westfalenstadion 55,000
MSV Duisburg Duisburg Wedaustadion 30,128
Hamburger SV Hamburg Volksparkstadion 62,000
1. FC Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern Fritz-Walter-Stadion 38,500
Karlsruher SC Karlsruhe Wildparkstadion 33,800
1. FC Köln Cologne Müngersdorfer Stadion 55,000
Bayer 04 Leverkusen Leverkusen BayArena 22,500
Borussia Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach Bökelbergstadion 34,500
TSV 1860 Munich Munich Olympiastadion 63,000
FC Bayern Munich Munich Olympiastadion 63,000
F.C. Hansa Rostock Rostock Ostseestadion 25,850
FC Schalke 04 Gelsenkirchen Parkstadion 70,000
VfB Stuttgart Stuttgart Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion 53,700
VfL Wolfsburg Wolfsburg VfL-Stadion am Elsterweg 21,600

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 1. FC Kaiserslautern (C) 34 19 11 4 63 39 +24 68 Qualification to Champions League group stage
2 Bayern Munich 34 19 9 6 69 37 +32 66 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
3 Bayer Leverkusen 34 14 13 7 66 39 +27 55 Qualification to UEFA Cup first round
4 VfB Stuttgart 34 14 10 10 55 49 +6 52
5 Schalke 04 34 13 13 8 38 32 +6 52
6 Hansa Rostock 34 14 9 11 54 46 +8 51 Qualification to Intertoto Cup third round
7 Werder Bremen 34 14 8 12 43 47 −4 50 Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round
8 MSV Duisburg 34 11 11 12 43 44 −1 44 Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round[lower-alpha 1]
9 Hamburger SV 34 11 11 12 38 46 −8 44
10 Borussia Dortmund 34 11 10 13 57 55 +2 43
11 Hertha BSC 34 12 7 15 41 53 −12 43
12 VfL Bochum 34 11 8 15 41 49 −8 41
13 1860 Munich 34 11 8 15 43 54 −11 41
14 VfL Wolfsburg 34 11 6 17 38 54 −16 39
15 Borussia Mönchengladbach 34 9 11 14 54 59 −5 38
16 Karlsruher SC (R) 34 9 11 14 48 60 −12 38 Relegation to 2. Bundesliga
17 1. FC Köln (R) 34 10 6 18 49 64 −15 36
18 Arminia Bielefeld (R) 34 8 8 18 43 56 −13 32
Source: www.dfb.de
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. As domestic cup winners Bayern Munich had qualified for UEFA Champions League, their place in the Cup Winners' Cup was transferred to finalists Duisburg.

Results
Home \ Away BSC DSC BOC SVW BVB DUI HSV FCK KSC KOE B04 BMG M60 FCB ROS S04 VFB WOB
Hertha BSC — 1–1 2–2 0–2 1–1 1–3 0–2 2–0 3–1 1–0 2–2 2–2 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–4 3–0 1–0
Arminia Bielefeld 1–3 — 0–2 3–0 3–1 3–3 0–3 2–2 2–1 2–1 2–1 3–1 1–1 4–4 0–1 1–1 2–1 0–1
VfL Bochum 2–1 1–0 — 0–1 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–3 3–3 2–1 0–0 3–1 1–0 2–3 1–3 3–0 0–2 2–1
Werder Bremen 0–2 2–1 1–0 — 2–1 2–2 0–0 1–1 2–4 3–0 2–1 1–0 3–3 0–3 1–1 2–1 2–2 3–1
Borussia Dortmund 3–0 3–2 5–2 2–2 — 3–0 0–1 2–2 2–2 3–0 0–1 1–2 2–3 0–2 3–2 2–2 3–1 2–1
MSV Duisburg 0–1 2–1 2–0 2–1 0–0 — 3–0 1–1 1–0 2–2 1–1 4–5 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 0–3 2–2
Hamburger SV 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–3 1–0 — 1–1 3–1 2–1 0–1 2–2 1–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–2
1. FC Kaiserslautern 1–0 3–1 3–0 1–3 1–1 1–0 2–1 — 0–0 3–2 0–3 3–2 1–0 2–0 4–3 3–0 4–3 4–0
Karlsruher SC 0–2 3–1 1–1 3–1 0–1 1–2 0–1 2–4 — 3–1 1–1 2–5 0–0 1–1 3–0 0–0 4–2 2–1
1. FC Köln 2–0 3–5 2–1 2–0 4–2 3–2 1–2 0–0 0–1 — 2–2 3–2 2–3 1–3 0–0 0–2 4–2 5–3
Bayer Leverkusen 0–1 0–0 3–2 4–1 2–2 2–1 5–0 1–1 6–1 4–0 — 1–1 2–2 4–2 1–1 0–0 6–1 2–1
Borussia Mönchengladbach 4–2 0–0 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–3 1–1 1–3 1–1 4–1 2–2 — 5–1 1–1 5–2 0–1 0–0 0–2
1860 Munich 3–1 1–0 0–2 0–1 4–2 0–1 1–1 1–3 2–2 1–0 3–4 2–0 — 2–2 0–1 1–0 1–3 2–1
Bayern Munich 3–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 4–0 3–0 3–0 0–1 1–1 0–2 2–1 3–2 3–1 — 2–0 1–1 3–3 5–2
Hansa Rostock 4–0 2–1 2–2 1–2 3–1 2–1 2–1 2–2 4–2 1–2 1–2 2–0 3–0 1–3 — 4–1 1–1 0–1
Schalke 04 1–0 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 — 3–4 1–1
VfB Stuttgart 4–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 5–2 0–1 3–0 1–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 0–3 2–1 0–0 — 2–1
VfL Wolfsburg 2–1 2–0 0–2 1–0 1–4 0–2 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–0 2–3 1–1 0–0 1–0 —
Source: DFB
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers
22 goals
21 goals
14 goals
13 goals

Champion squad
1. FC Kaiserslautern
Goalkeepers: Andreas Reinke (31); Lajos Szűcs (3).

Defenders: Michael Schjønberg (32 / 4); Miroslav Kadlec (32 / 1); Harry Koch (31); Axel Roos (31); Oliver Schäfer (10); Roger Lutz (6); Andreas Brehme (captain; 5); János Hrutka (3).
Midfielders: Ciriaco Sforza (32 / 3); Andreas Buck (31 / 1); Martin Wagner (30 / 4); Ratinho (26 / 4); Marian Hristov (22 / 5); Michael Ballack (16); Thomas Riedl (6 / 1); Frank Greiner (1); Pascal Ojigwe (1).
Forwards: Marco Reich (31 / 1); Jürgen Rische (27 / 11); Olaf Marschall (24 / 21); Pavel Kuka (22 / 5); Stefan Ertl (5).
(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

Manager: Otto Rehhagel.

On the roster but have not played in a league game: Petr Kouba ; Thomas Franck.

Transferred out during the season: Petr Kouba (to FK Viktoria Žižkov).

See also

References
  1. "Schedule Round 1". DFB. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012.
  2. "Archive 1997/1998 Round 34". DFB. Archived from the original on 9 July 2009.
  3. "MSV Duisburg - FC Bayern: Live Score, Stream and H2H results 05/02/1998". Tribuna.com. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  4. Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs, Band 7: Vereinslexikon (in German). Kassel: AGON Sportverlag. ISBN 3-89784-147-9.
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