| 1997–98 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | Franco Sensi | |||
| Manager | Zdeněk Zeman | |||
| Stadium | Stadio Olimpico | |||
| Serie A | 4th | |||
| Coppa Italia | Quarter-finals | |||
| Top goalscorer | League:  Abel Balbo (14) All: Abel Balbo, Paulo Sérgio (14)  | |||
| 
 | ||||
Associazione Sportiva Roma was reinvigorated under new coach Zdeněk Zeman, who recently had been coaching arch rivals Lazio. Zeman brought his attacking 4–3–3 with him, resulting in Roma scoring 67 goals, but also conceding 42, an extreme rarity in defensive-minded Italian football. Roma finished fourth, three places above Lazio in the table. That was the first time it had happened in five years, which delighted the Roma board, and Zeman stayed on for a further season. The season also saw the international breakthrough of former youth-team product Francesco Totti, who at 21 was ready for increased responsibility and captaincy, responding with 13 league goals from a position on the left-wing of the attack. Also noticeable was new signing Cafu's offensive skills as a right-wing back, granting him a reputation among the world's top wing backs.
Players
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
  | 
  | 
Transfers
| In | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Name | from | Type | 
| DF | Cafu | Palmeiras | €7.60 million | 
| FW | Paulo Sérgio | Bayer Leverkusen | €3.50 million | 
| MF | Eusebio Di Francesco | Piacenza Calcio | |
| GK | Antonio Chimenti | Salernitana | |
| GK | Michael Konsel | Rapid Wien | |
| GK | Andrea Campagnolo | Cittadella | |
| DF | César Gómez | CD Tenerife | |
| DF | Giorgio Lucenti | Palermo F.C. | |
| DF | Iván Helguera | Albacete Balompie | |
| DF | Cristian Servidei | Lecce | |
| DF | Filippo Dal Moro | Empoli F.C. | |
| MF | Vágner | Santos Futebol Clube | |
| MF | Cristiano Scapolo | Bologna F.C. | |
| FW | Carmine Gautieri | Perugia Calcio | |
| Out | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Name | To | Type | 
| FW | Daniel Fonseca | Juventus | €4.70 million | 
| DF | Amedeo Carboni | Valencia CF | €4.00 million | 
| DF | Marco Lanna | UD Salamanca | end of contract | 
| MF | Francesco Moriero | A.C. Milan | end of contract | 
| MF | Jonas Thern | Glasgow Rangers | end of contract | 
| GK | Giovanni Cervone | Brescia Calcio | |
| GK | Giorgio Sterchele | Bologna F.C. | |
| MF | Francesco Statuto | Udinese Calcio | |
| GK | Gianluca Berti | A.C. Reggiana | |
| GK | Giampaolo Di Magno | Carpi | |
| DF | Enrico Annoni | Celtic Glasgow | |
| DF | Lorenzo Stovini | Vicenza Calcio | |
| MF | Antonino Bernardini | Perugia Calcio | |
| FW | Martin Dahlin | Blackburn Rovers | €3.0 million | 
Winter
| In | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Name | from | Type | 
| DF | Antonio Carlos | SC Corinthians | |
| Out | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Name | To | Type | 
| DF | Giorgio Lucenti | Empoli F.C. | loan | 
| FW | Andrea Conti | Carpi | |
| DF | Francesco Colonnese | Internazionale | €1.50 million | 
Competitions
Overall
| Competition | Started round | Final position | First match | Last match | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serie A | Matchday 1 | 4th | 31 August 1997 | 16 May 1998 | 
| Coppa Italia | Round of 32 | Quarter-finals | 3 September 1997 | 21 January 1998 | 
Last updated: 16 May 1998
Serie A
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Internazionale | 34 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 62 | 27 | +35 | 69 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round | 
| 3 | Udinese | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 62 | 40 | +22 | 64 | Qualification to UEFA Cup | 
| 4 | Roma | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 67 | 42 | +25 | 59 | |
| 5 | Fiorentina | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 65 | 36 | +29 | 57[lower-alpha 1] | |
| 6 | Parma | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 55 | 39 | +16 | 57 | 
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]
Notes:
- ↑ Fiorentina finished ahead of Parma on head-to-head points: FIO 1–1 PAR; PAR 1–2 FIO.
 
Results summary
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | 
| 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 67 | 42 | +25 | 59 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 44 | 21 | +23 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 23 | 21 | +2 | 
Last updated: 16 May 1998.
Source: Competitive matches
Results by round
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed; = Leader, 1998–99 UEFA Champions League Group stage; = 1998–99 UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying round; = 1998–99 UEFA Cup First round; = Qualification to Intertoto Cup; = 1998–99 Serie B
Matches
| 31 August 1997 1 | Empoli | 1–3 | Roma | Empoli | 
| Cappellini  | 
Report | Delvecchio  Balbo  | 
Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Referee: Stefano Farina  | 
| 14 September 1997 2 | Roma | 0–0 | Juventus | Rome | 
| Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Fiorenzo Treossi  | 
| 21 September 1997 3 | Roma | 3–1 | Lecce | Rome | 
| Totti  Di Biagio Balbo  | 
Report | Palmieri  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Daniele Tombolini  | 
| 28 September 1997 4 | Bologna | 0–0 | Roma | Bologna | 
| Report | Stadium: Stadio Renato Dall'Ara Referee: Roberto Bettin  | 
| 5 October 1997 5 | Roma | 6–2 | Napoli | Rome | 
| Candela  Gautieri Balbo Di Francesco  | 
Report | Altomare  Bellucci  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Alfredo Trentalange  | 
| 19 October 1997 6 | Fiorentina | 0–0 | Roma | Florence | 
| Report | Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Robert Anthony Boggi  | 
| 1 November 1997 7 | Roma | 1–3 | Lazio | Rome | 
| Delvecchio  | 
Report | Mancini  Casiraghi Nedvěd  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Pierluigi Collina  | 
| 9 November 1997 8 | Bari | 1–3 | Roma | Bari | 
| Volpi  | 
Report | Totti  Balbo  | 
Stadium: Stadio San Nicola Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto  | 
| 23 November 1997 9 | Roma | 2–2 | Vicenza | Rome | 
| Balbo  Paulo Sérgio  | 
Report | Luiso  Ambrosetti  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Graziano Cesari  | 
| 30 November 1997 10 | Parma | 0–2 | Roma | Parma | 
| Report | Totti  Paulo Sérgio  | 
Stadium: Stadio Ennio Tardini Referee: Stefano Braschi  | 
| 7 December 1997 11 | Roma | 3–0 | Atalanta | Rome | 
| Carrera  Totti Paulo Sérgio  | 
Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Stefano Farina  | 
| 14 December 1997 12 | Internazionale | 3–0 | Roma | Milan | 
| Djorkaeff  Branca Petruzzi  | 
Report | Stadium: San Siro Referee: Domenico Messina  | 
| 21 December 1997 13 | Brescia | 1–1 | Roma | Brescia | 
| Hübner  | 
Report | Paulo Sérgio  | 
Stadium: Stadio Mario Rigamonti Referee: Piero Ceccarini  | 
| 4 January 1998 14 | Roma | 1–2 | Udinese | Rome | 
| Balbo  | 
Report | Bierhoff  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Pierluigi Collina  | 
| 18 January 1998 16 | Roma | 1–1 | Piacenza | Rome | 
| Aldair  | 
Report | Rastelli  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Emilio Pellegrino  | 
| 25 January 1998 17 | Sampdoria | 1–1 | Roma | Genoa | 
| Mihajlović  | 
Report | Mannini  | 
Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Alfredo Trentalange  | 
| 1 February 1998 18 | Roma | 4–3 | Empoli | Rome | 
| Balbo  Aldair  | 
Report | Bonomi  Cappellini  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Roberto Bettin  | 
| 8 February 1998 19 | Juventus | 3–1 | Roma | Turin | 
| Zidane  Del Piero Davids  | 
Report | Paulo Sérgio  | 
Stadium: Stadio delle Alpi Referee: Domenico Messina  | 
| 11 February 1998 20 | Lecce | 1–3 | Roma | Lecce | 
| Atelkin  | 
Report | Balbo  Di Biagio Gautieri  | 
Stadium: Stadio Via del Mare Referee: Salvatore Racalbuto  | 
| 15 February 1998 21 | Roma | 2–1 | Bologna | Rome | 
| Di Francesco  Delvecchio  | 
Report | Kolyvanov  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Piero Ceccarini  | 
| 22 February 1998 22 | Napoli | 0–2 | Roma | Naples | 
| Report | Totti  Di Biagio  | 
Stadium: Stadio San Paolo Referee: Livio Bazzoli  | 
| 1 March 1998 23 | Roma | 4–1 | Fiorentina | Rome | 
| Paulo Sérgio  Delvecchio Totti  | 
Report | Batistuta  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Fiorenzo Treossi  | 
| 8 March 1998 24 | Lazio | 2–0 | Roma | Rome | 
| Bokšić  Nedvěd  | 
Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Robert Anthony Boggi  | 
| 15 March 1998 25 | Roma | 2–1 | Bari | Rome | 
| Paulo Sérgio  Aldair  | 
Report | Zambrotta  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Tarcisio Serena  | 
| 22 March 1998 26 | Vicenza | 1–1 | Roma | Vicenza | 
| Luiso  | 
Report | Balbo  | 
Stadium: Stadio Romeo Menti Referee: Pierluigi Collina  | 
| 29 March 1998 27 | Roma | 2–2 | Parma | Rome | 
| Totti  Paulo Sérgio  | 
Report | Chiesa  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Gennaro Borriello  | 
| 5 April 1998 28 | Atalanta | 0–1 | Roma | Bergamo | 
| Report | Di Francesco  | 
Stadium: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Referee: Piero Ceccarini  | 
| 11 April 1998 29 | Roma | 1–2 | Internazionale | Rome | 
| Cafu  | 
Report | Ronaldo  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Graziano Cesari  | 
| 19 April 1998 30 | Roma | 5–0 | Brescia | Rome | 
| Di Biagio  Paulo Sérgio Totti  | 
Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Alfredo Trentalange  | 
| 26 April 1998 31 | Udinese | 4–2 | Roma | Udine | 
| Bierhoff  Calori Poggi  | 
Report | Totti  | 
Stadium: Stadio Friuli Referee: Livio Bazzoli  | 
| 3 May 1998 32 | Roma | 5–0 | Milan | Rome | 
| Candela  Di Biagio Paulo Sérgio Delvecchio  | 
Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Stefano Farina  | 
| 10 May 1998 33 | Piacenza | 3–3 | Roma | Piacenza | 
| Piovani  Murgita Valtolina  | 
Report | Di Francesco  Totti Paulo Sérgio  | 
Stadium: Stadio Leonardo Garilli Referee: Stefano Braschi  | 
| 16 May 1998 34 | Roma | 2–0 | Sampdoria | Rome | 
| Totti  Delvecchio  | 
Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Cosimo Bolognino  | 
Coppa Italia
Second round
| 3 September 1997 First leg | Roma | 5–3 | Hellas Verona | Rome | 
| 20:30 CEST (UTC+02:00) | Balbo  Aldair Di Biagio Di Francesco Gonnella  | 
Aglietti  Vanoli  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Emilio Pellegrino  | 
| 25 September 1997 Second leg | Hellas Verona | 1–2 (4–7 agg.)  | Roma | Verona | 
| 20:30 CEST (UTC+02:00) | Siviglia  | 
Aldair  Di Biagio  | 
Stadium: Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi Referee: Piero Ceccarini  | 
Round of 16
| 15 October 1997 First leg | Udinese | 2–2 | Roma | Udine | 
| 20:30 CEST (UTC+02:00) | Locatelli  Bierhoff  | 
Totti  Gautieri  | 
Stadium: Stadio Friuli Referee: Livio Bazzoli  | 
| 20 November 1997 Second leg | Roma | 2–1 (4–3 agg.)  | Udinese | Rome | 
| 20:30 CET (UTC+01:00) | Paulo Sérgio  Delvecchio  | 
Poggi  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Stefano Farina  | 
Quarter-finals
| 6 January 1998 First leg | Lazio | 4–1 | Roma | Rome | 
| 20:30 CET (UTC+01:00) | Bokšić  Jugović Mancini Fuser  | 
Balbo  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Pasquale Rodomonti  | 
| 21 January 1998 Second leg | Roma | 1–2 (6–2 agg.)  | Lazio | Rome | 
| 20:30 CET (UTC+01:00) | Paulo Sérgio  | 
Jugović  Gottardi  | 
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Cosimo Bolognino  | 
Statistics
Players statistics
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
| 1 | GK | Konsel | 34 | -47 | 29 | -37 | 5 | -10 | |
| 2 | DF | Cafu | 36 | 1 | 31 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
| 25 | DF | Petruzzi | 30 | 0 | 22+3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 6 | DF | Aldair | 34 | 5 | 28 | 3 | 6 | 2 | |
| 5 | DF | Candela | 38 | 2 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 0 | |
| 17 | MF | Tommasi | 39 | 0 | 28+5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 4 | MF | Di Biagio | 36 | 9 | 30 | 7 | 6 | 2 | |
| 11 | MF | Di Francesco | 38 | 5 | 32+1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | |
| 10 | AM | Totti | 36 | 14 | 30 | 13 | 6 | 1 | |
| 7 | FW | Paulo Sérgio | 40 | 14 | 28+6 | 12 | 6 | 2 | |
| 9 | FW | Balbo | 31 | 16 | 27+1 | 14 | 3 | 2 | |
| 12 | GK | Chimenti | 9 | -8 | 5+3 | -5 | 1 | -3 | |
| 30 | DF | Zago | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |||
| 24 | FW | Delvecchio | 32 | 8 | 10+17 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |
| 19 | MF | Gautieri | 22 | 3 | 7+11 | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
| 13 | MF | Vágner | 16 | 0 | 5+6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 18 | DF | Helguera | 10 | 0 | 5+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 3 | DF | Dal Moro | 8 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 15 | DF | Servidei | 9 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 16 | DF | Pivotto | 7 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 | |||
| 21 | DF | Tetradze | 7 | 0 | 1+6 | 0 | |||
| 22 | DF | Gomez | 3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | |||
| 8 | MF | Scapolo | 8 | 0 | 0+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 23 | GK | Campagnolo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 14 | FW | Choutos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| DF | Lucenti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| MF | Conti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| GK | Ficarra | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Goalscorers
 Abel Balbo 14 (3)
 Francesco Totti 13 (1)
 Paulo Sérgio 12
 Marco Delvecchio 7
 Luigi Di Biagio 7 (2)
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.