# 1996–97 FC Barcelona season

The 1996–97 season was FC Barcelona's 98th season in existence and 68th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football, La Liga.

## Summary

Before being dismissed by the club as head coach in May 1996, Johan Cruyff sought to reinforce the club for the upcoming season. While bids for Zinedine Zidane, David Ginola, Ryan Giggs, Aron Winter, and goalkeeper José Francisco Molina all proved unsuccessful, Laurent Blanc, Juan Antonio Pizzi and Luis Enrique did join the club.
The team enjoyed a decent season, winning both Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but extended its run without winning the league title to three years, coming second to Real Madrid. The season's end saw major departures: Bobby Robson was replaced as coach by Louis Van Gaal and Ronaldo, the club's top scorer with 47 goals, made a surprise switch to Inter Milan.

## 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 | ESP | Albert Ferrer |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Abelardo |
| 4 | MF | ESP | Pep Guardiola (vice-captain) |
| 5 | MF | ROU | Gheorghe Popescu (captain) |
| 6 | MF | ESP | José Mari Bakero (captain) |
| 7 | MF | POR | Luís Figo |
| 8 | FW | BUL | Hristo Stoichkov |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Ronaldo |
| 10 | MF | BRA | Giovanni |
| 11 | FW | ESP | Ángel Cuéllar |
| 12 | DF | ESP | Sergi |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Carles Busquets |
| 15 | DF | FRA | Laurent Blanc |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | MF | ESP | Óscar |
| 17 | MF | NGA | Emmanuel Amunike |
| 18 | MF | ESP | Guillermo Amor |
| 19 | FW | ESP | Juan Antonio Pizzi |
| 20 | DF | ESP | Miguel Ángel Nadal |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Luis Enrique |
| 22 | MF | CRO | Robert Prosinečki |
| 23 | MF | ESP | Iván de la Peña |
| 24 | DF | POR | Fernando Couto |
| 25 | GK | ESP | Julen Lopetegui |
| 26 | MF | ESP | Albert Celades |
| 27 | MF | ESP | Roger |
| 28 | GK | ESP | Francesc Arnau |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | Ronaldo | PSV Eindhoven | U$20,0million |
| DF | Laurent Blanc | AJ Auxerre | free |
| MF | Luis Enrique | Real Madrid | free |
| FW | Juan Antonio Pizzi | CD Tenerife | free |
| FW | Hristo Stoichkov | Parma | €2.4 million |
| MF | Goran Vucevic | CP Merida | loan ended |
| MF | Giovanni | Santos FC | €5.5 million |
| GK | Vítor Baía | FC Porto | €6.5 million |
| DF | Fernando Couto | Parma FC | €5.5 million |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| FW | Jordi Cruyff | Manchester United | - |
| MF | Gheorghe Hagi | Galatasaray SK | - |
| FW | Meho Kodro | CD Tenerife | - |
| MF | Juan Carlos Moreno | Albacete Balompié | - |
| DF | Thomas Christiansen | Real Oviedo | - |
| MF | Toni Velamazán | Real Oviedo | - |
| DF | García Pimienta | CF Extremadura | - |

#### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| MF | Emmanuel Amunike | Sporting Lisboa | €3.0 million |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| FW | Robert Prosinecki | Sevilla CF | - |
| MF | Jose Mari Bakero | CD Veracruz | - |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Real Madrid (C) | 42 | 27 | 11 | 4 | 85 | 36 | +49 | 92 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Barcelona | 42 | 28 | 6 | 8 | 102 | 48 | +54 | 90 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Deportivo La Coruña | 42 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 57 | 30 | +27 | 77 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Real Betis | 42 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 81 | 46 | +35 | 77 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 5 | Atlético Madrid | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 76 | 64 | +12 | 71 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
* 1 2 BET 1–2 DEP; DEP 3–0 BET
* ↑ Since Barcelona, winners of 1996–97 Copa del Rey, was qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League, losing cup finalists Real Betis earned a spot in the first round of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

#### 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 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | D | W | L | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | D | L | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | W |
| Position | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### Matches
### Friendlies
## Statistics
### Players statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | POR | Baia | 50 | -58 | 37 | -43 | 5 | -11 | 8 | -4 |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Ferrer | 28 | 0 | 16+2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | ESP | Nadal | 38 | 2 | 25+2 | 1 | 4+2 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 15 | DF | FRA | Blanc | 37 | 1 | 25+3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | ESP | Sergi | 47 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 5 | DM | ROU | Popescu | 42 | 5 | 26+3 | 4 | 4+1 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 4 | DM | ESP | Guardiola | 51 | 1 | 38 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 6+1 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | POR | Figo | 49 | 8 | 34+2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | BRA | Giovanni | 43 | 11 | 24+6 | 7 | 1+4 | 1 | 6+2 | 3 |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Luis Enrique | 49 | 18 | 35 | 17 | 6+1 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Ronaldo | 48 | 45 | 37 | 34 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Busquets | 7 | -3 | 4 | -2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| 24 | DF | POR | Couto | 35 | 2 | 23+3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Abelardo | 30 | 3 | 19+2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 |
| 23 | AM | ESP | De la Peña | 42 | 3 | 17+16 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4+2 | 0 |
| 8 | FW | BUL | Stoichkov | 33 | 7 | 13+9 | 7 | 3+1 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | ESP | Roger | 21 | 2 | 12+4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | NGA | Amunike | 22 | 1 | 11+8 | 1 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | ESP | Amor | 35 | 0 | 10+16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | ESP | Óscar | 18 | 5 | 6+8 | 4 | 1+3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | ESP | Cuellar | 11 | 0 | 6+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | ARG | Pizzi | 47 | 15 | 5+28 | 9 | 5+2 | 5 | 2+5 | 1 |
| 26 | MF | ESP | Celades | 6 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | ESP | Bakero | 5 | 1 | 1+3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 28 | GK | ESP | Arnau | 1 | -3 | 1 | -3 |
| 22 | MF | CRO | Prosinečki | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 25 | GK | ESP | Lopetegui | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Source: