# 1998–99 Inter Milan season

The 1998–99 Inter Milan season was the club's 90th in existence and 83rd consecutive season in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football.

## Season

Inter continued its increasingly frustrating run without the league title, which was extended to ten years following a chaotic season. Head coach Luigi Simoni was fired when the side did not perform to the expected level, and the season saw a further three coaches trying to tame Inter without any success. Despite the chaos, the side managed to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, where it lost to eventual champions Manchester United.
Another worry was the injury problems affecting star striker Ronaldo, who only played in 19 of the 34 league matches (although in those 19 games he scored 14 goals).
After the season, Inter signed Christian Vieri from Lazio for a world-record transfer fee of £32 million to help with goalscoring, while successful ex-Juventus coach Marcello Lippi was appointed in the hope he could end Inter's title drought.

## Squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ITA | Gianluca Pagliuca |
| 2 | DF | ITA | Giuseppe Bergomi (captain) |
| 3 | DF | ITA | Francesco Colonnese |
| 4 | DF | ARG | Javier Zanetti |
| 5 | DF | ITA | Fabio Galante |
| 6 | MF | FRA | Youri Djorkaeff |
| 7 | DF | ITA | Salvatore Fresi |
| 8 | MF | NED | Aron Winter |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Ronaldo |
| 10 | FW | ITA | Roberto Baggio |
| 11 | FW | ITA | Nicola Ventola |
| 13 | MF | BRA | Zé Elias |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | MF | ARG | Diego Simeone |
| 15 | MF | FRA | Benoît Cauet |
| 16 | DF | NGA | Taribo West |
| 17 | MF | ITA | Francesco Moriero |
| 18 | FW | CHI | Iván Zamorano |
| 19 | MF | POR | Paulo Sousa |
| 20 | MF | BRA | Gilberto |
| 21 | MF | ITA | Andrea Pirlo |
| 22 | GK | FRA | Sebastien Frey |
| 23 | DF | CRO | Dario Šimić |
| 24 | DF | FRA | Mikaël Silvestre |
| 25 | DF | ITA | Mauro Milanese (on loan from Parma) |

## Transfers
### Autumn

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | Roberto Baggio | Bologna | €1.80 million |
| GK | Sébastien Frey | Cannes | loan ended |
| GK | Giorgio Frezzolini | Fidelis Andria | loan ended |
| DF | Zoumana Camara | Saint-Étienne | |
| DF | Matteo Ferrari | Genoa | loan ended |
| DF | Mikaël Silvestre | Rennes | |
| MF | Ousmane Dabo | Rennes | |
| MF | Andrea Pirlo | Brescia | |
| MF | Cristiano Zanetti | Reggiana | |
| FW | Mohammed Kallon | Bologna | loan ended |
| FW | Alonso Piola | Internacional | loan ended |
| FW | Gionatha Spinesi | Castel di Sangro | |
| FW | Nicola Ventola | Bari | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| GK | Giorgio Frezzolini | Cosenza, then Milan | loan |
| DF | Matteo Ferrari | Lecce | loan |
| DF | Martín Rivas | Perugia | loan |
| DF | Luigi Sartor | Parma | |
| DF | Massimo Tarantino | Bologna | co-ownership |
| DF | Salvatore Fresi | Salernitana | loan (November) |
| MF | Cristiano Zanetti | Cagliari | loan (October) |
| MF | Ousmane Dabo | Vicenza | loan (October) |
| FW | Mohammed Kallon | Cagliari | loan |
| FW | Gionatha Spinesi | Bari | co-ownership |
| FW | Samuel Ipoua | Toulouse | |
| FW | Nwankwo Kanu | Arsenal | (October) |

### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| DF | Gilberto | Cruzeiro | |
| DF | Dario Šimić | Dinamo Zagreb | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| GK | Andrea Mazzantini | Perugia | |
| DF | Luca Mezzano | Perugia | loan |
| FW | Álvaro Recoba | Venezia | loan |

## Competitions
### Serie A
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 6 | Udinese | 34 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 52 | 52 | 0 | 54 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Juventus | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 54 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup third round |
| 8 | Internazionale | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 59 | 54 | +5 | 46 | |
| 9 | Bologna | 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 44 | 47 | −3 | 44 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 10 | Bari | 34 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 39 | 44 | −5 | 42 | |
* ↑ Udinese gained entry to the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup winning the UEFA Cup qualification match against Juventus
* ↑ Juventus qualified to the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round.
* ↑ Bologna gained entry to the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup winning the cup third place UEFA Cup qualification match against Internazionale
* ↑ BAR 1–0 VEN, VEN 2–1 BAR

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | W | W | W | L | L | L | D | W | L | W | D | W | W | L | W | L | W | D | W | L | L | D | L | D | L | W | L | D | L | W | L | L | W |
| Position | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 |

#### Matches
### Coppa Italia
#### UEFA Cup qualification

Coppa Italia 3rd place: Bologna

### UEFA Champions League
#### Group phase

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | INT | RMA | SPM | STM |
| 1 | Internazionale | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 8 | +9 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 6–1 |
| 3 | Spartak Moscow | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 8 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 |
| 4 | Sturm Graz | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 16 | −14 | 1 | | 0–2 | 1–5 | 0–2 | — |

#### Quarter-finals
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

    As of 30 June 1999
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Serie A | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Champions League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | ITA | Pagliuca | 47 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ARG | Zanetti J | 50 | 4 | 34+2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 7+2 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | ITA | Colonnese | 40 | 1 | 28+1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | ITA | Bergomi | 37 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | FRA | Silvestre | 31 | 1 | 17+3 | 1 | 3+2 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | NED | Winter | 42 | 1 | 24+5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | ARG | Simeone | 44 | 7 | 28 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
| 15 | MF | FRA | Cauet | 46 | 3 | 22+8 | 1 | 3+4 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| 18 | FW | CHI | Zamorano | 38 | 14 | 21+4 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 7+3 | 3 |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Ronaldo | 28 | 15 | 18+2 | 14 | 1+1 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | ITA | Baggio | 35 | 11 | 19+6 | 6 | 3+1 | 0 | 4+2 | 5 |
| 22 | GK | FRA | Frey | 9 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | NGA | West | 30 | 0 | 20+3 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | CRO | Simic | 21 | 2 | 18+1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | FRA | Djorkaeff | 36 | 14 | 17+8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| 5 | DF | ITA | Galante | 29 | 1 | 16+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | ITA | Ventola | 37 | 11 | 14+9 | 7 | 5+2 | 1 | 3+4 | 3 |
| 19 | MF | POR | Paulo Sousa | 19 | 0 | 10+2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | ITA | Milanese | 15 | 0 | 7+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | ITA | Moriero | 18 | 2 | 6+5 | 1 | 1+2 | 1 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | BRA | Zé Elias | 23 | 1 | 5+9 | 0 | 2+3 | 1 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | ITA | Pirlo | 32 | 0 | 5+15 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0+7 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | FRA | Dabo | 8 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | BRA | Gilberto | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | DF | ITA | Fresi | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | FRA | Camara | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | ITA | Mezzano | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | ITA | Zanetti C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | URU | Recoba | 4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 32 | FW | ITA | Sinigaglia | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | NGA | Kanu | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 30 June 1999 Source: Competitions