1997–98 S.S.C. Napoli season

Napoli
1997–98 season
Chairman	Corrado Ferlaino
Manager	Bortolo Mutti ; Carlo Mazzone ; Giovanni Galeone ; Vincenzo Montefusco
Serie A	18th
Coppa Italia	Last 16
Top goalscorer	Claudio Bellucci (10)

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 A.C. Milan.

Only eight years following Napoli's second title, the club seemed to be in terminal decline, with hard work being needed to return to the top domestic league. Given that the club had not been relegated since a bankruptcy in 1964, the relegation was a shock, by the extremely poor season.

Squad

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Attackers

Serie A

Pos	Team	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.

Matches

1	Lazio	2–0	Napoli
	Mancini 68' Pancaro 76'

2	Napoli	2–1	Empoli
	Bellucci 33' Protti 48'		C. Esposito 77'

3	Vicenza	1–1	Napoli
	Di Napoli 17'		Turrini 18'

4	Napoli	0–1	Atalanta
			Caccia 50'

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

6	Napoli	0–2	Inter
			Galante 10' Turrini 69' (o.g.)

7	Bologna	5–1	Napoli
	R. Baggio 48' (pen.) 90' 90 + 5' (pen.) K. Andersson 55, 90 + 3'		Goretti 14'

8	Napoli	1–2	Juventus
	Bellucci 55'		Zidane 38' Fonseca 88'

9	Lecce	2–0	Napoli
	M. Rossi 50' Palmieri 61'

10	Napoli	1–1	Fiorentina
	Turrini 34'		Firicano 28'

11	Piacenza	1–0	Napoli
	Rastelli 87'

12	Napoli	0–4	Parma
			Blomqvist 18' D. Baggio 53' Crespo 65, 73'

13	Sampdoria	6–3	Napoli
	Boghossian 35' Montella 42' (pen.) 61' 90' (pen.) Klinsmann 73' Laigle 76'		Bellucci 15' Protti 70' Rossitto 78'

14	Napoli	1–2	Milan
	Bellucci 75'		Ganz 52' Leonardo 71'

15	Udinese	1–1	Napoli
	Crasson 90 + 2' (o.g.)		Bellucci 27'

16	Napoli	0–3	Brescia
			Pirlo 13' Koźmiński 53' Diana 90 + 3'

17	Bari	2–0	Napoli
	Marcolini 74' Sala 90 + 3'

18

Napoli

0–0

Lazio

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

20	Napoli	2–0	Vicenza
	Turrini 43' (pen.) Stojak 47'

21	Atalanta	1–0	Napoli
	Lucarelli 16'

22	Napoli	0–2	Roma
			Totti 54' Di Biagio 62'

23	Inter	2–0	Napoli
	Zamorano 63' Ronaldo 73' (pen.)

24

Napoli

0–0

Bologna

25	Juventus	2–2	Napoli
	Del Piero 46' Zalayeta 75'		Turrini 69' Protti 90 + 2'

26	Napoli	2–4	Lecce
	Protti 35' (pen.) Altomare 73'		Casale 2' Palmieri 29' Ayala 75' (o.g.) Atelkin 90 + 3'

27	Fiorentina	4–0	Napoli
	Batistuta 40, 67' Robbiati 80' Edmundo 86'

28	Napoli	1–2	Piacenza
	Bellucci 51'		Scienza 34' Dionigi 84' (pen.)

29	Parma	3–1	Napoli
	Crespo 3, 86' Apolloni 76'		Bellucci 69'

30	Napoli	0–2	Sampdoria
			Crasson 33' (o.g.) Laigle 87'

31

Milan

0–0

Napoli

32	Napoli	1–3	Udinese
	Turrini 12' (pen.)		Poggi 4' Bierhoff 45, 87'

33	Brescia	2–1	Napoli
	Adani 57' Neri 81'		Bellucci 56'

34	Napoli	2–2	Bari
	Bellucci 13' Stojak 48'		Guerrero 6' Volpi 37'

Topscorers

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.