1997–98 A.C. Milan season

A.C. 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.

Milan
1997–98 season
PresidentSilvio Berlusconi
ManagerFabio Capello
StadiumSan Siro
Serie A10th
Coppa ItaliaRunners-up
Top goalscorerLeague:
George Weah (10)
All:
George Weah (13)

First-team 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. Nation Player
1 GK  ITA Sebastiano Rossi
3 DF  ITA Paolo Maldini
4 MF  ITA Demetrio Albertini
5 DF  ITA Alessandro Costacurta
8 DF  FRA Marcel Desailly[2]
9 FW  NED Patrick Kluivert
10 MF  YUG Dejan Savićević
12 GK  ITA Simone Braglia
13 MF  FRA Ibrahim Ba[3]
14 FW  LBR George Weah
15 DF  BRA André Cruz
16 GK  GER Jens Lehmann
17 DF  GER Christian Ziege
19 MF  ITA Giampiero Maini
20 MF  CRO Zvonimir Boban
21 DF  ITA Giuseppe Cardone
22 DF  ITA Daniele Daino
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 GK  ITA Massimo Taibi
24 DF  CRO Dario Smoje
25 MF  ITA Simone Bonomi
26 DF  ITA Alberto Comazzi
27 MF  ITA Nicola Corrent
28 FW  ITA Massimiliano Grego
29 MF  ITA Roberto De Zerbi
30 MF  BRA Leonardo
31 FW  ITA Mirco Gasparetto
32 MF  ITA Roberto Donadoni
33 MF  ITA Nicola Padoin
34 FW  ITA Massimo Maccarone
35 DF  NOR Steinar Nilsen
36 FW  ITA Maurizio Ganz
37 DF  FRA Samir Beloufa
38 FW  ITA Filippo Maniero
39 DF  ITA Gianluca Zanetti

Left club during season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF  NED Winston Bogarde (to Barcelona)
7 MF  NED Edgar Davids[4] (to Juventus)
No. Pos. Nation Player
11 FW  SWE Andreas Andersson (to Newcastle United)
18 FW  ITA Matteo Pelatti (on loan to Como)

Results

Serie A
Main article: 1997–98 Serie A

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
8 Bologna 34 12 12 10 55 46 +9 48[lower-alpha 1] Qualification to Intertoto Cup third round
9 Sampdoria 34 13 9 12 52 55 −3 48 Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round
10 Milan 34 11 11 12 37 43 −6 44
11 Bari 34 10 8 16 30 45 −15 38
12 Piacenza 34 7 16 11 29 38 −9 37
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).[5]
Notes:
  1. Bologna finished ahead of Sampdoria on head-to-head points: BOL 2–2 SAM; SAM 2–3 BOL.

Matches
1 Piacenza 1–1 Milan
Delli Carri  69' Delli Carri  29' (o.g.)
2 Milan 1–1 Lazio
Ba  37' Signori  90 + 4' (pen.)
3 Udinese 2–1 Milan
Bierhoff  25, 85' Kluivert  4'
4 Milan 0–1 Vicenza
Di Napoli  45'
5 Empoli 0–1 Milan
A. Andersson  88'
6 Milan 1–2 Lecce
Cyprien  76' (o.g.) Govedarica  2'
Casale  49' (pen.)
7 Sampdoria 0–3 Milan
Weah  75, 81'
Ziege  87'
8 Milan 2–1 Brescia
Leonardo  7, 25' Hübner  44'
9 Inter 2–2 Milan
Simeone  13'
Ronaldo  68'		 Weah  29'
André Cruz  80' (pen.)
10 Milan 1–1 Juventus
Ferrara  27' (o.g.) F. Inzaghi  32'
11 Milan 2–0 Bari
Boban  47'
Kluivert  62'
12 Atalanta 1–2 Milan
Sgrò  17' Lucarelli  2' (o.g.)
Kluivert  65'
13 Milan 0–0 Bologna
14 Napoli 1–2 Milan
Bellucci  75' Leonardo  52'
Ganz  71'
15 Milan 0–0 Roma
16 Parma 3–1 Milan
Chiesa  33, 75'
D. Baggio  44'		 Ganz  70'
17 Milan 0–2 Fiorentina
L. Oliveira  3'
Morfeo  52'
18 Milan 1–0 Piacenza
Maniero  90'
19 Lazio 2–1 Milan
Mancini  6'
Bokšić  90 + 3'		 Kluivert  90 + 4'
20 Milan 0–0 Udinese
21 Vicenza 1–4 Milan
Otero  54' Kluivert  3, 74'
Ganz  8'
Maniero  74'
22 Milan 3–1 Empoli
Weah  3'
Ganz  15'
Maniero  82'		 C. Esposito  65'
23 Lecce 0–0 Milan
24 Milan 1–0 Sampdoria
Ziege  38'
25 Brescia 2–2 Milan
Hübner  40' (pen.)
Bizzarri  68'		 Weah  44, 51'
26 Milan 0–3 Inter
Simeone  42, 87'
Ronaldo  77'
27 Juventus 4–1 Milan
Del Piero  12' (pen.), 39'
F. Inzaghi  60, 83'		 Boban  30' (pen.)
28 Bari 1–0 Milan
Masinga  81'
29 Milan 3–0 Atalanta
Weah  10, 53, 87'
30 Bologna 3–0 Milan
R. Baggio  15', 50' (pen.)
Fontolan  83'
31 Milan 0–0 Napoli
32 Roma 5–0 Milan
Candela  16'
Di Biagio  20' (pen.), 28'
Paulo Sérgio  39'
Delvecchio  82'
33 Milan 1–1 Parma
Weah  56' André Cruz  16' (o.g.)
34 Fiorentina 2–0 Milan
Robbiati  50'
Kanchelskis  55'

Coppa Italia
Main article: 1997–98 Coppa Italia

Round of 32
2 September 1997 First leg Milan 0-0 Reggina
24 September 1997 Second leg Reggina 0–2
(0–2 agg.)		 Milan
Weah  34'
Boban  90'

Round of 16
16 October 1997 First leg Milan 3-2 Sampdoria
Weah  64'
Maini  74'
Kluivert  92'		 Tovalieri  20'
Boghossian  44'
19 November 1997 Second leg Sampdoria 1-2
(3-5 agg.)		 Milan
Mihajlović  29' Leonardo  64'
André Cruz  82' (pen.)

Quarter-finals
8 January 1998 First leg Milan 5–0 Internazionale Milan
20:45 CET Albertini  29' (pen.)
Ganz  33'
Savićević  44'
Colonnese  46' (o.g.)
Nilsen  60'		 Stadium: San Siro
Referee: Graziano Cesari
21 January 1998 Second leg Internazionale 1–0
(1–5 agg.)		 Milan Milan
20:45 CET Branca  32' Stadium: San Siro
Referee: Roberto Bettin

Semi-finals
18 February 1998 First leg Milan 0-0 Parma
12 March 1998 Second leg Parma 2-2
(2–2 agg.)		 Milan
Chiesa  49'
Stanić  87'		 Kluivert  47, 93'

Final
Main article: 1998 Coppa Italia Final
8 April 1998 First leg Milan 1–0 Lazio Milan
Weah  90' Stadium: San Siro
Attendance: 63,564
Referee: Livio Bazzoli
29 April 1998 Second leg Lazio 3–1
(3–2 agg.)		 Milan Rome
Gottardi  56'
Jugović 59' (pen.)
Nesta  66'		 Albertini  47' Stadium: Stadio Olimpico
Attendance: 64,189
Referee: Florenzo Treossi

Statistics

Goalscorers
Rank No. Pos Nat Name Serie A Coppa Italia Total
1 14 FW George Weah 10 3 13
2 9 FW Patrick Kluivert 6 3 9
3 36 FW Maurizio Ganz 4 1 5
4 20 MF Zvonimir Boban 2 1 3
30 MF Leonardo 3 0 3
38 FW Filippo Maniero 3 0 3
7 4 MF Demetrio Albertini 0 2 2
15 DF André Cruz 1 1 2
17 DF Christian Ziege 2 0 2
10 11 FW Andreas Andersson 1 0 1
13 MF Ibrahim Ba 1 0 1
19 DF Giampiero Maini 0 1 1
35 DF Steinar Nilsen 0 1 1
10 MF Dejan Savićević 0 1 1
Own goal 4 1 5
Totals 37 15 52

References
  1. http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/italy/1997-1998/seriea/milan.htm
  2. Desailly was born in Accra, Ghana.
  3. Ba was born in Dakar, Senegal
  4. Davids was born in Paramaribo, Suriname.
  5. 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
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