1997–98 Athletic Bilbao season

The 1997–98 season was the 97th season in Athletic Bilbao's history and their 67th consecutive season in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football.

Season summary[]

The previous season, Luis Fernández's first as head coach, was a successful one for Athletic, as their 6th-place finish in La Liga gained them a place in the 1997–98 UEFA Cup first round after a two-year exile from European competition.^[2] The Frenchman's second La Liga campaign yielded even greater success: Bilbao finished as runners-up, behind only Barcelona, and qualified for the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League.^[3] This was their highest league finish, and first qualification for Europe's premier competition, since their last La Liga triumph in 1984.

They also had a good run in the Copa del Rey, reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 1994–95. They were eliminated on away goals by eventual runners-up Mallorca.^[4]

Athletic's UEFA Cup first round opponents were Sampdoria of Italy. The Spaniards took a valuable 2–1 win in the first leg in Genoa,^[5] and secured passage to the second round with a 2–0 victory at San Mamés.^[6] Their reward was a second round tie against Aston Villa of England, with the first leg in Bilbao finishing goalless.^[7] The Birmingham side took a 2–0 lead just after half time at Villa Park, and a late goal from Javi González was not enough to prevent Athletic's elimination.^[8]

Squad statistics[]

Appearances and goals[]

^{[1][9][10][11][12]}

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		La Liga		Copa del Rey		UEFA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ESP	Juan José Valencia	4	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
4	DF	ESP	Rafael Alkorta	34	1	29	1	3	0	2	0
5	DF	ESP	Óscar Tabuenka[1]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	MF	ESP	Josu Urrutia	38	0	29+1	0	3+1	0	4	0
7	MF	ESP	Andoni Goikoetxea	2	0	0	0	0	0	0+2	0
8	MF	ESP	Julen Guerrero	33	8	25+4	8	3	0	0+1	0
9	FW	ESP	Cuco Ziganda	41	5	19+16	3	2+1	1	3	1
10	DF	ESP	Aitor Larrazábal	40	8	28+4	7	2+2	0	3+1	1
11	DF	ESP	Jesús María Lacruz	19	0	7+10	0	1+1	0	0	0
12	DF	ESP	Carlos García	41	2	33+1	2	4	0	3	0
13	GK	ESP	Imanol Etxeberria	42	0	38	0	0	0	4	0
14	MF	ESP	José Mari	16	0	3+10	0	1+2	0	0	0
15	DF	ESP	Patxi Ferreira	19	0	9+7	0	2	0	1	0
16	MF	ESP	Txomin Nagore	21	0	11+6	0	1+1	0	2	0
17	FW	ESP	Joseba Etxeberria	43	12	35+1	11	3+1	1	3	0
18	MF	ESP	Bittor Alkiza	44	2	36+1	1	3	1	4	0
19	DF	ESP	Mikel Lasa	35	1	17+11	1	3	0	3+1	0
20	FW	ESP	Ismael Urzaiz	38	10	23+9	8	2+1	2	2+1	0
21	DF	ESP	Iñigo Larrainzar	41	3	34	2	2+1	0	4	1
22	MF	ESP	Javi González	37	6	8+22	5	2+1	0	2+2	1
24	DF	ESP	Roberto Ríos	39	3	31+1	2	3	0	4	1
25	FW	ESP		1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
26	GK	ESP	Iñaki Lafuente	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	DF	ESP	César	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
28	FW	ESP	Mario Bermejo	3	0	0+1	0	0	0	0+2	0
31	MF	ESP	Gaizka Garitano	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	MF	ESP	Jorge Pérez	7	0	3+4	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	ESP	Raúl Gil	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

1.^ Tabuenka was transferred to SD Compostela during the season.^[10]

Results[]

La Liga[]

League table[]

UEFA Cup[]

First round[]

Sampdoria v Athletic Bilbao

16 September 1997	Sampdoria	1–2	Athletic Bilbao	Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
20:30	Boghossian 74'	Report	Ríos 19' Larrainzar 62'	Attendance: 36,000 Referee: Ahmet Çakar (Turkey)

Athletic Bilbao v Sampdoria

30 September 1997	Athletic Bilbao	2–0	Sampdoria	San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao
20:30	Larrazábal 40' (pen.) Ziganda 47'	Report		Attendance: 42,000 Referee: Marc Batta (France)

Athletic Bilbao won 4–1 on aggregate

Second round[]

Athletic Bilbao v Aston Villa

21 October 1997	Athletic Bilbao	0–0	Aston Villa	San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao
21:30		Report		Attendance: 42,500 Referee: Hartmut Strampe (Germany)

Aston Villa v Athletic Bilbao

4 November 1997	Aston Villa	2–1	Athletic Bilbao	Villa Park, Birmingham
20:30	Taylor 27' Yorke 50'	Report	González 70'	Attendance: 35,915 Referee: S. Piller (Hungary)

Aston Villa won 2–1 on aggregate

See also[]

• 1997–98 La Liga
• 1997–98 Copa del Rey
• 1997–98 UEFA Cup

External links[]

• Official website (in English, Basque, and Spanish)

References[]