1998–99 Atlético Madrid season

Atlético Madrid

1998–99 season
President	Jesús Gil
Head coach	Arrigo Sacchi (until 14 February) Carlos Sánchez Aguiar (from 15 February to 23 March) Radomir Antić
La Liga	13th
Copa del Rey	Runners-up
UEFA Cup	Semi-final
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

The 1998–1999 campaign was the 93rd season in Atlético Madrid's history and their 64th season in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football.

Season summary[]

Arrigo Sacchi was sacked in February with Atlético in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals but also mired in the bottom half of the table. B-team manager Carlos Sánchez Aguiar took charge for the next month, guiding Atlético to the UEFA Cup semi-finals, before handing the reins to Radomir Antić. Antić had guided the club to the title three years previously, but ultimately the high point of his second spell in charge would be reaching the Copa del Rey final, only to be thrashed 3-0 by Valencia. The league form under Antić continued to be mediocre and Atlético were also knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the semi-finals for the second season running, by eventual champions Parma. Although Atlético qualified for the UEFA Cup due to their domestic cup run, this season would prove to be the beginning of the end for Atlético's status as one of Spain's top clubs for most of the next decade; it would be five more years until Atlético recorded their next top-half finish, and another three before their return to European competition.

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  ESP José Molina 2 DF  ARG José Chamot 3 DF  ESP Toni 4 DF  YUG Zoran Njegus 5 DF  ESP Juanma López 6 DF  ESP Santi 7 MF  YUG Vladimir Jugović 8 MF  ITA Giorgio Venturin 9 MF  ARG Santiago Solari 10 MF  BRA Juninho 11 MF  ESP Jordi Lardín 12 MF  RSA Quinton Fortune 13 GK  ESP Pedro Luis Jaro 14 FW  ESP José Mari 15 DF  ESP Carlos Aguilera

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  ESP Juan Carlos Valerón 17 FW  URU Juan González (on loan from Real Oviedo) 18 MF  ESP Roberto 19 FW  ESP Kiko 20 DF  ESP Delfí Geli 21 DF  ITA Stefano Torrisi 22 MF  ARG Óscar Mena 23 DF  ITA Michele Serena 24 MF  CZE Radek Bejbl 25 FW  URU Fernando Correa 27 DF  ESP Ramón 28 MF  ESP Rubén Baraja 29 FW  ESP Luis Tevenet 30 DF  ESP Gaspar 31 FW  ESP

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 17 DF  ARG Cristian Díaz (on loan to Málaga)

Competitions[]

La Liga[]

League table[]

Matches[]

Copa del Rey[]

Eightfinals

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final[]

Atlético Madrid v Valencia

26 June 1999	Atlético Madrid	0–3	Valencia	Sevilla
21:30 CEST		Copa del Rey 1999	López 22', 81' Mendieta 33'	Stadium: La Cartuja Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Manuel Díaz Vega

UEFA Cup[]

First round[]

Atlético Madrid v Obilić

15 September 1998	Atlético Madrid	2–0	Obilić	Madrid
21:30 (CET)	Juninho 15' José Mari 53'	Report		Stadium: Vicente Calderón Stadium Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Edgar Steinborn

Obilić v Atlético Madrid

29 September 1998	Obilić	0–1	Atlético Madrid	Belgrade
20:30 (CET)		Report	Kiko 55'	Stadium: Partizan Stadium Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Jan Wegereef

Atlético Madrid won 3–0 on aggregate.

Second round[]

CSKA Sofia v Atlético Madrid

20 October 1998	CSKA Sofia	2–4	Atlético Madrid	Sofia
19:15 (CET)	Genchev 53' Naydenov 88'	Report	Torrisi 41' Kiko 43', 87' Roberto 75'	Stadium: Balgarska Armia Stadium Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Georg Dardenne

Atlético Madrid v CSKA Sofia

3 November 1998	Atlético Madrid	1–0	CSKA Sofia	Madrid
21:30 (CET)	Juninho 45' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Vicente Calderón Attendance: 28,000 Referee: Luc Huyghe

Atlético Madrid won 5–2 on aggregate.

Third round[]

Real Sociedad v Atlético Madrid

24 November 1998	Real Sociedad	2–1	Atlético Madrid	San Sebastián
19:45 (CET)	Kovačević 45' Roberto 85' (o.g.)	Report	Juninho 3'	Stadium: Anoeta Attendance: 24,431 Referee: Graham Poll

Atlético Madrid v Real Sociedad

8 December 1998	Atlético Madrid	4–1 (a.e.t.)	Real Sociedad	Madrid
21:30 (CET)	Jugović 16', 45' (pen.) Santi 96' José Mari 98'	Report	Gracia 51'	Stadium: Vicente Calderón Stadium Attendance: 37,000 Referee: Vítor Melo Pereira

Atlético Madrid won 5–3 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals[]

Atlético Madrid v Roma

2 March 1999	Atlético Madrid	2–1	Roma	Madrid
21:30 (CET)	José Mari 13' Roberto 46'	Report	Di Biagio 75'	Stadium: Vicente Calderón Stadium Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Alain Sars

Roma v Atlético Madrid

16 March 1999	Roma	1–2	Atlético Madrid	Roma
21:30 (CET)	Delvecchio 32'	Report	Aguilera 58' Roberto 89'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 64,485 Referee: Mario van der Ende

Atlético Madrid won 4–2 on aggregate.

Semi-finals[]

Atlético Madrid v Parma

6 April 1999	Atlético Madrid	1–3	Parma	Madrid
21:30 (CET)	Juninho 21' (pen.)	Report	Chiesa 13', 40' Crespo 62'	Stadium: Vicente Calderón Stadium Attendance: 57,000 Referee: Nikolai Levnikov

Parma v Atlético Madrid

20 April 1999	Parma	2–1	Atlético Madrid	Parma
21:30 (CET)	Balbo 35' Chiesa 83'	Report	Roberto 63'	Stadium: Stadio Ennio Tardini Attendance: 9,872 Referee: Paul Durkin

Parma won 5–2 on aggregate.

References[]