# 1998–99 FC Barcelona season

During the 1998–99 FC Barcelona season, the club once again retained the La Liga title. Barcelona enjoyed a great season with their new signings Ronald de Boer, Patrick Kluivert, Frank de Boer, Mauricio Pellegrino, Boudewijn Zenden and Phillip Cocu. Barcelona had a league tough start in early season but Barcelona later made a remarkable turnaround to secure La Liga in late-May, thanks to Real Madrid's several slips.
Barcelona were eliminated by Valencia in the quarter-final of Copa del Rey.
Following another lackluster performance in the First Group Phase against two European giants Bayern Munich and Manchester United with wins, draws and losses twice respectively and thus prevented Barcelona qualified to UEFA Champions League quarter finals.

## 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 | POR | Vítor Baía |
| 2 | DF | NED | Michael Reiziger |
| 3 | DF | ARG | Mauricio Pellegrino |
| 4 | MF | ESP | Pep Guardiola (captain) |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Abelardo |
| 6 | MF | ESP | Óscar |
| 7 | MF | POR | Luís Figo |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Albert Celades |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Sonny Anderson |
| 10 | MF | BRA | Giovanni |
| 11 | MF | BRA | Rivaldo |
| 12 | DF | ESP | Sergi |
| 13 | GK | NED | Ruud Hesp |
| 14 | MF | NGA | Emmanuel Amunike |
| 15 | MF | NED | Phillip Cocu |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | MF | SCG | Dragan Ćirić |
| 17 | DF | NED | Winston Bogarde |
| 18 | MF | NED | Ronald de Boer |
| 19 | FW | NED | Patrick Kluivert |
| 20 | DF | ESP | Miguel Ángel Nadal |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Luis Enrique |
| 22 | DF | NGA | Samuel Okunowo |
| 23 | MF | NED | Boudewijn Zenden |
| 24 | MF | ESP | Roger |
| 25 | DF | NED | Frank de Boer |
| 26 | MF | ESP | Xavi Hernández |
| 27 | MF | ESP | Luis García |
| 28 | GK | ESP | Francesc Arnau |
| 33 | DF | ESP | Ibán Cuadrado |
| — | GK | ESP | Carles Busquets |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | Patrick Kluivert | Milan | £8,750,000 |
| DF | Mauricio Pellegrino | Vélez Sarsfield | |
| MF | Phillip Cocu | PSV | |
| MF | Boudewijn Zenden | PSV | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To |
| DF | Fernando Couto | Lazio |
| MF | Iván de la Peña | Lazio |
| DF | Albert Ferrer | Chelsea |
| FW | Hristo Stoichkov | CSKA Sofia |
| MF | Guillermo Amor | Fiorentina |
| FW | Juan Antonio Pizzi | River Plate |
| GK | Carles Busquets | Lleida |
| FW | Christophe Dugarry | Marseille |
| MF | Toni Velamazán | Extremadura |

#### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| DF | Frank de Boer | Ajax | £22,000,000 |
| MF | Ronald de Boer | Ajax | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| GK | Vítor Baía | Porto | loan |

## Friendlies

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Tournament |
| 21 July 1998 | AGOVV | A | 2–1 | Figo 23', Luis Enrique 79' | |
| 23 July 1998 | Rohda Raalte | A | 13–1 | Sonny Anderson 9', Luis Enrique (2) 15', 20', Figo 30', Óscar 38', Gadiaga 46', Seyit (3) 48', 52', 59', Ledezma 54', Luis García (2) 65', 70' | |
| 25 July 1998 | GVVV | A | 2–1 | Sonny Anderson 15', Babangida 84' | |
| 1 August 1998 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 3–1 | Sonny Anderson (2) 10', 61', Mario Rosas 40' | |
| 7 August 1998 | Derby County | A | 3–1 | Luis Enrique 15', Óscar 20', Own goal 75' | |
| 11 August 1998 | Hertha BSC | A | 1–1 | Rivaldo 90' | |
| 14 August 1998 | Lleida | A | 2–2 (2–3)p | Phillip Cocu 9', Óscar 67' | Ciutat de Lleida Trophy |
| 25 August 1998 | Santos | H | 2–2 (5–4)p | Rivaldo 39', Figo 41' | Joan Gamper Trophy |
| 2 September 1998 | Palamós | A | 2–0 | Sonny Anderson 16', Giovanni 43' | |
| 10 November 1998 | Helsingborgs IF | H | 0–2 | | |
| 16 December 1998 | Red Star Belgrade | H | 4–1 | Phillip Cocu 46', Patrick Kluivert 57', Boudewijn Zenden 70', Óscar 74' | |
| 12 January 1999 | Galatasaray | H | 2–2 | Giovanni 33', Óscar 36' | |
| 27 January 1999 | La Liga XI | H | 4–0 | Dragan Ćirić 57', Roger 70', Winston Bogarde 71', Óscar 86' | |
| 10 March 1993 | Johan Cruyff Dream Team | H | 2–0 | Patrick Kluivert 44', Giovanni 67' | Johan Cruyff Tribute |
| 24 March 1999 | Lleida | A | 3–4 | Nadal 34', Sonny Anderson (2) 39', 89' | Copa Catalunya |
| 6 April 1999 | Ajax | A | 2–2 | Mauricio Pellegrino 56', Sonny Anderson 72' | Johan Cruyff Tribute |
| 28 April 1999 | Brazil | H | 2–2 | Luis Enrique 34', Phillip Cocu 63' | Centenary of FC Barcelona |

## Competitions
### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Barcelona (C) | 38 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 87 | 43 | +44 | 79 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 38 | 21 | 5 | 12 | 77 | 62 | +15 | 68 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Mallorca | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 48 | 31 | +17 | 66 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Valencia | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 63 | 39 | +24 | 65 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Celta Vigo | 38 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 69 | 41 | +28 | 64 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |

#### 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 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | D | W | D | D | W | D | W | W | L | W | L | L | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | W | L |
| Position | 11 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Champions League
#### Group D

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | BAY | MUN | BAR | BRO |
| Bayern Munich | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 11 | — | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Manchester United | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 11 | +9 | 10 | 1–1 | — | 3–3 | 5–0 |
| Barcelona | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 8 | 1–2 | 3–3 | — | 2–0 |
| Brøndby | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 18 | −14 | 3 | 2–1 | 2–6 | 0–2 | — |

### Copa del Rey
#### Quarterfinals
## Statistics
### Players statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey | UEFA Champions League | UEFA Champions League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 13 | GK | NED | Hesp | 46 | -58 | 37 | -42 | 3 | -7 | 6 | -9 |
| 2 | DF | NED | Reiziger | 31 | 0 | 24+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Abelardo | 37 | 1 | 28+2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | NED | Frank de Boer | 23 | 4 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 12 | DF | ESP | Sergi | 43 | 1 | 34+1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | POR | Figo | 44 | 8 | 34 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 15 | MF | NED | Cocu | 45 | 12 | 36 | 12 | 3+1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | ESP | Guardiola | 26 | 1 | 21+1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Luis Enrique | 32 | 12 | 26 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 19 | FW | NED | Kluivert | 38 | 15 | 35 | 14 | 3 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | BRA | Rivaldo | 46 | 29 | 37 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| 28 | GK | ESP | Arnau | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ARG | Pellegrino | 25 | 0 | 16+7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | ESP | Xavi | 25 | 1 | 16+1 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Celades | 19 | 2 | 11+5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | NED | Ronald de Boer | 17 | 1 | 11+2 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | BRA | Giovanni | 21 | 5 | 9+5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5+1 | 2 |
| 23 | MF | NED | Zenden | 30 | 0 | 8+17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | NGA | Okunowo | 19 | 0 | 8+6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Anderson | 31 | 10 | 4+20 | 6 | 0+1 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| 6 | MF | ESP | Óscar | 10 | 3 | 1+5 | 2 | 1+2 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | ESP | Roger | 9 | 0 | 1+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | ESP | Nadal | 3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | SCG | Ciric | 5 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | NED | Bogarde | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | ESP | Luis García | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | ESP | Cuadrado | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| — | GK | ESP | Busquets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | GK | POR | Baia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | NGA | Amunike |
* Source: