# 1997–98 La Liga

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 season was composed of the following clubs:
| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
| Barcelona | Camp Nou | 98,772 |
| Real Madrid | Santiago Bernabéu | 80,354 |
| Espanyol | Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc | 55,926 |
| Atlético Madrid | Vicente Calderón | 55,005 |
| Valencia | Mestalla | 55,000 |
| Real Betis | Benito Villamarín | 52,132 |
| Athletic Bilbao | San Mamés | 39,750 |
| Deportivo de La Coruña | Riazor | 34,600 |
| Real Zaragoza | La Romareda | 34,596 |
| Celta de Vigo | Balaídos | 32,500 |
| Real Sociedad | Anoeta | 32,200 |
| Valladolid | José Zorrilla | 27,846 |
| Sporting de Gijón | El Molinón | 25,885 |
| Real Oviedo | Carlos Tartiere | 23,500 |
| Tenerife | Heliodoro Rodríguez López | 22,824 |
| Racing de Santander | El Sardinero | 22,222 |
| Mallorca | Lluís Sitjar | 18,000 |
| Salamanca | El Helmántico | 17,341 |
| Mérida | Estadio Romano | 14,600 |
| Compostela | San Lázaro | 12,000 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Barcelona (C) | 38 | 23 | 5 | 10 | 78 | 56 | +22 | 74 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Athletic Bilbao | 38 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 52 | 42 | +10 | 65 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Real Sociedad | 38 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 60 | 37 | +23 | 63 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Real Madrid | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 63 | 45 | +18 | 63 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 5 | Mallorca | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 55 | 39 | +16 | 60 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 6 | Celta Vigo | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 54 | 47 | +7 | 60 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Atlético Madrid | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 79 | 56 | +23 | 60 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 8 | Real Betis | 38 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 49 | 50 | −1 | 59 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 9 | Valencia | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 58 | 52 | +6 | 55 | Qualification for the Intertoto Cup third round |
| 10 | Espanyol | 38 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 44 | 31 | +13 | 53 | Qualification for the Intertoto Cup second round |
| 11 | Valladolid | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 36 | 47 | −11 | 50 | |
| 12 | Deportivo La Coruña | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 44 | 46 | −2 | 49 | |
| 13 | Zaragoza | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 45 | 53 | −8 | 48 | |
| 14 | Racing Santander | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 46 | 55 | −9 | 45 | |
| 15 | Salamanca | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 45 | |
| 16 | Tenerife | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 44 | 57 | −13 | 45 | |
| 17 | Compostela (R) | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 56 | 66 | −10 | 44 | Qualification for the relegation playoffs |
| 18 | Oviedo (O) | 38 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 36 | 51 | −15 | 40 | Qualification for the relegation playoffs |
| 19 | Mérida (R) | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 33 | 53 | −20 | 39 | Relegation to the Segunda División |
| 20 | Sporting Gijón (R) | 38 | 2 | 7 | 29 | 31 | 80 | −49 | 13 | Relegation to the Segunda División |
* 1 2 RMA 2–0 RSO; RSO 4–2 RMA
* ↑ Real Madrid was qualified directly for the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League as holders.
* 1 2 3 MLL: 9 pts; CEL: 5 pts; ATM: 2 pts
* ↑ Since Barcelona, winners of 1997–98 Copa del Rey, was qualified for the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, losing cup finalists RCD Mallorca earned a spot in the first round of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
* 1 2 3 RAC: 8 pts; SAL: 4 pts → SAL 2-0 TEN; TEN: 4 pts → TEN 2-0 SAL

## Results

| Home \ Away | ATH | ATM | FCB | BET | CEL | COM | RCD | ESP | MLL | MER | RAC | RMA | ROV | RSO | SAL | RSG | TEN | VCF | VLD | ZAR |
| Athletic Bilbao | | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Atlético Madrid | 3–0 | | 5–2 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 |
| Barcelona | 4–0 | 3–1 | | 1–3 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Betis | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–3 |
| Celta de Vigo | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Compostela | 1–4 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Deportivo La Coruña | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–6 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 |
| Espanyol | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Mallorca | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 6–2 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Mérida | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Racing Santander | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| Real Madrid | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | | 5–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 |
| Oviedo | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 0–5 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Real Sociedad | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 2–2 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Salamanca | 0–0 | 5–4 | 4–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | | 4–0 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Sporting Gijón | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| Tenerife | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Valencia | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 6–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 2–1 |
| Valladolid | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | | 4–0 |
| Zaragoza | 1–1 | 1–5 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | |

## Relegation playoff

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Villarreal CF | (a) 1–1 | SD Compostela | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Real Oviedo | 4–3 | UD Las Palmas | 3–0 | 1–3 |

### Second leg
## Awards
### Pichichi Trophy

The Pichichi Trophy is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Christian Vieri | Atlético Madrid | 24 |
| 2 | Rivaldo | Barcelona | 19 |
| 3 | Luis Enrique | Barcelona | 18 |
| 4 | Darko Kovačević | Real Sociedad | 17 |
| 5 | Lyuboslav Penev | Compostela | 16 |
| 6 | Pauleta | Salamanca | 15 |
| 7 | Fernando Correa | Racing Santander | 14 |
| 8 | Gabriel Amato | Mallorca | 13 |
| 8 | Juan Esnáider | Espanyol | 13 |
| 8 | Alen Peternac | Valladolid | 13 |

### Zamora Trophy

The Ricardo Zamora Trophy is awarded to the goalkeeper with the lowest ratio of goals conceded to matches played.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals against | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Toni | Espanyol | 31 | 37 | 0.84 |
| 2 | Alberto | Real Sociedad | 37 | 38 | 0.97 |
| 3 | Bogdan Stelea | Salamanca | 32 | 30 | 1.07 |
| 4 | Imanol Etxeberria | Athletic Bilbao | 42 | 38 | 1.11 |
| 5 | Andoni Zubizarreta | Valencia | 40 | 34 | 1.18 |