The 1997–98 La Liga season was the 67th since its establishment. It began on 30 August 1997, and concluded on 16 May 1998.

On 29 March 1998, following Sporting Gijón's 0–0 draw with Zaragoza, combined with Racing Santander's 4–3 loss to Athletic Bilbao, Sporting Gijón became the first team in La Liga history to be relegated in March, ending the season with a league-record lowest points tally of just 13.

Promotion and relegation

Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Segunda División. The promoted teams were Mérida, Salamanca (both teams returning after a season's absence) and Mallorca (returning after a five-year absence). They replaced Rayo Vallecano, Extremadura, Sevilla FC, Hércules CF and CD Logrones after spending time in the top flight for two, one, twenty two, one and one years respectively. Starting from this season, twenty teams contested in the La Liga as opposed to previous seasons with twenty-two teams.

Team information

Clubs and locations

1997–98 La Liga is located in Spain
Location of teams in La Liga 1997–98
Tenerife is located in Canary Islands
Canary Islands

1997–98 season was composed of the following clubs:

TeamStadiumCapacity
BarcelonaCamp Nou98,772
Real MadridSantiago Bernabéu80,354
EspanyolEstadi Olímpic de Montjuïc55,926
Atlético MadridVicente Calderón55,005
ValenciaMestalla55,000
Real BetisBenito Villamarín52,132
Athletic BilbaoSan Mamés39,750
Deportivo de La CoruñaRiazor34,600
Real ZaragozaLa Romareda34,596
Celta de VigoBalaídos32,500
Real SociedadAnoeta32,200
ValladolidJosé Zorrilla27,846
Sporting de GijónEl Molinón25,885
Real OviedoCarlos Tartiere23,500
TenerifeHeliodoro Rodríguez López22,824
Racing de SantanderEl Sardinero22,222
MallorcaLluís Sitjar18,000
SalamancaEl Helmántico17,341
MéridaEstadio Romano14,600
CompostelaSan Lázaro12,000

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1Barcelona (C)38235107856+2274Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2Athletic Bilbao38171475242+1065Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3Real Sociedad38161576037+2363Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4Real Madrid38171296345+1863Qualification for the Champions League group stage
5Mallorca381612105539+1660Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
6Celta Vigo38179125447+760Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
7Atlético Madrid381612107956+2360
8Real Betis38178134950−159
9Valencia38167155852+655Qualification for the Intertoto Cup third round
10Espanyol38121794431+1353Qualification for the Intertoto Cup second round
11Valladolid381311143647−1150
12Deportivo La Coruña381213134446−249
13Zaragoza381212144553−848
14Racing Santander38129174655−945
15Salamanca38129174646045
16Tenerife381112154457−1345
17Compostela (R)381111165666−1044Qualification for the relegation playoffs
18Oviedo (O)38913163651−1540
19Mérida (R)38912173353−2039Relegation to the Segunda División
20Sporting Gijón (R)3827293180−4913

Results

Home \ AwayATHATMFCBBETCELCOMRCDESPMLLMERRACRMAROVRSOSALRSGTENVCFVLDZAR
Athletic Bilbao1–03–00–02–12–01–11–33–15–14–31–13–01–11–02–23–00–32–01–0
Atlético Madrid3–05–20–03–33–13–00–22–34–02–11–14–12–21–12–12–23–15–02–1
Barcelona4–03–11–33–22–02–13–10–03–12–03–02–13–01–42–13–23–41–21–0
Betis1–12–30–22–01–01–01–32–12–10–23–21–10–02–12–13–01–03–03–3
Celta de Vigo1–11–13–12–03–32–11–01–02–01–22–13–02–14–11–00–01–02–02–1
Compostela1–42–12–22–30–00–01–12–23–03–12–31–01–32–02–01–23–10–02–0
Deportivo La Coruña3–02–23–12–01–12–61–11–10–14–12–22–11–11–02–11–01–21–32–1
Espanyol0–12–21–15–01–11–02–01–00–00–01–00–00–33–01–12–03–02–00–1
Mallorca4–02–10–11–24–22–10–02–21–02–10–01–10–11–06–25–12–11–10–2
Mérida0–02–11–21–34–03–31–01–10–01–22–22–13–11–01–01–11–00–00–1
Racing Santander0–00–12–42–02–11–10–11–10–12–01–20–03–11–04–12–12–11–22–3
Real Madrid0–01–12–31–03–12–10–02–12–01–02–25–12–01–03–03–01–23–10–2
Oviedo1–20–21–00–03–11–11–11–10–12–00–11–10–52–02–11–00–00–13–0
Real Sociedad1–10–02–22–02–15–11–12–01–02–11–04–22–21–12–11–11–13–00–1
Salamanca0–05–44–30–00–10–14–12–11–13–10–00–20–20–04–02–06–01–01–2
Sporting Gijón1–22–31–42–30–10–20–31–01–30–02–10–21–20–21–10–20–31–22–3
Tenerife0–22–21–13–11–35–10–00–01–41–12–24–31–00–02–02–13–21–00–0
Valencia1–14–10–31–02–14–11–00–00–03–06–10–21–13–20–12–21–21–22–1
Valladolid3–02–11–21–30–04–11–00–00–00–00–01–11–00–41–21–12–10–34–0
Zaragoza1–11–51–23–11–02–21–21–12–31–12–02–23–30–01–10–01–00–20–0

Relegation playoff

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Villarreal CF(a) 1–1SD Compostela0–01–1
Real Oviedo4–3UD Las Palmas3–01–3

First leg

21 May 1998Villarreal CF0–0SD CompostelaVillarreal
21:45(in Spanish)Stadium: El Madrigal Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Víctor Esquinas Torres Community of Madrid
22 May 1998Real Oviedo3–0UD Las PalmasOviedo
21:45Iván Ania 9' (pen.), 27' Dely Valdés 59'(in Spanish)Stadium: Carlos Tartiere Attendance: 23,500 Referee: Eduardo Iturralde González Basque Country (autonomous community)

Second leg

24 May 1998SD Compostela1–1 (1–1 agg.)Villarreal CFSantiago de Compostela
21:45Chiba 57'(in Spanish)Alberto 7'Stadium: Multiusos de San Lázaro Attendance: 11,500 Referee: Manuel Díaz Vega Asturias
25 May 1998UD Las Palmas3–1 (3–4 agg.)Real OviedoLas Palmas de Gran Canaria
22:00Gamboa 20' Walter Pico 65' Paquito 66'(in Spanish)Gamboa 29' (o.g.)Stadium: Insular Attendance: 21,000 Referee: Antonio Jesús López Nieto Andalusia

Awards

Pichichi Trophy

The Pichichi Trophy is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season.

RankPlayerClubGoals
1Italy Christian VieriAtlético Madrid24
2Brazil RivaldoBarcelona19
3Spain Luis EnriqueBarcelona18
4Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Darko KovačevićReal Sociedad17
5Bulgaria Lyuboslav PenevCompostela16
6Portugal PauletaSalamanca15
7Uruguay Fernando CorreaRacing Santander14
8Argentina Gabriel AmatoMallorca13
Argentina Juan EsnáiderEspanyol
Croatia Alen PeternacValladolid

Zamora Trophy

The Ricardo Zamora Trophy is awarded to the goalkeeper with the lowest ratio of goals conceded to matches played.

RankPlayerClubGoals againstMatchesAverage
1Spain ToniEspanyol31370.84
2Spain AlbertoReal Sociedad37380.97
3Romania Bogdan SteleaSalamanca32301.07
4Spain Imanol EtxeberriaAthletic Bilbao42381.11
5Spain Andoni ZubizarretaValencia40341.18

Attendances

Source:

#ClubAvg. attendanceHighest
1FC Barcelona74,053115,000
2Real Madrid73,368104,000
3Valencia CF44,68454,000
4Real Betis38,81647,500
5Athletic Club36,15841,000
6Atlético de Madrid30,89558,000
7Real Zaragoza23,05335,000
8Celta de Vigo22,71432,000
9Real Sociedad22,65128,399
10RCD Espanyol21,92131,500
11Deportivo de La Coruña21,39533,000
12CD Tenerife19,06822,500
13Real Valladolid17,96623,000
14Racing de Santander17,23722,000
15RCD Mallorca16,96630,800
16Real Oviedo16,50023,500
17Real Sporting de Gijón15,15422,000
18UD Salamanca12,91620,199
19Mérida UD10,78915,000
20SD Compostela8,38114,000

See also