# 1997–98 HNK Rijeka season

The 1997–98 season was the 52nd season in Rijeka's history. It was their 7th season in the Prva HNL and 24th successive top tier season.

## Competitions

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Prva HNL | 3 August 1997 | 10 May 1998 | Matchday 1 | 7th | 32 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 36 | 37 | −1 | 028.13 |
| Croatian Cup | 6 August 1997 | 1 October 1997 | First round | Second round | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 34 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 39 | 39 | +0 | 029.41 |

### Prva HNL
#### First stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 5 | Osijek | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 29 | 26 | +3 | 32 | Qualification to championship group |
| 6 | Zadarkomerc | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 25 | 24 | +1 | 28 | Qualification to championship group |
| 7 | Rijeka | 22 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 20 | 24 | −4 | 26 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 8 | Varteks | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 24 | 32 | −8 | 24 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 9 | Slaven Belupo | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 20 | 43 | −23 | 23 | Qualification to relegation group |
* ↑ Head-to-head record: Slaven Belupo–Mladost 127 2–0, Mladost 127–Slaven Belupo 2–1.

#### Second stage (relegation play-off)

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 7 | Rijeka | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 28 | |
| 8 | Šibenik | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 27 | |
| 9 | Slaven Belupo | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 27 | |
| 10 | Varteks | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 26 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 11 | Mladost 127 (O) | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 25 | Qualification to relegation play-off |
| 12 | Samobor (R) | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 20 | −9 | 21 | Relegation to Croatian Second Football League |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |

#### 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 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | D | W | D | D | L | D | L | W | D | L | D | W | D | D | L | D | L | D | D | L | W | D | W | L | W | L | W | D | W | L | D |
| Position | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |

## Matches
### Prva HNL

| Round | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Attendance | Rijeka Scorers | Report |
| 1 | 3 Aug | H | Slaven Belupo | 1 – 0 | 3,000 | Hasančić | HRnogomet.com |
| 2 | 10 Aug | A | Zagreb | 2 – 2 | 2,500 | Brkić, Mladenović | HRnogomet.com |
| 3 | 17 Aug | H | Mladost 127 | 2 – 0 | 2,500 | Cimirotič, Hasančić | HRnogomet.com |
| 4 | 24 Aug | A | Varteks | 1 – 1 | 3,000 | Mladenović | HRnogomet.com |
| 5 | 31 Aug | H | Osijek | 1 – 1 | 5,000 | o.g. | HRnogomet.com |
| 6 | 12 Sep | A | Hajduk Split | 1 – 2 | 5,000 | Cimirotič | HRnogomet.com |
| 7 | 21 Sep | H | Croatia Zagreb | 1 – 1 | 7,500 | Pilipović | HRnogomet.com |
| 8 | 28 Sep | A | Samobor | 0 – 2 | 1,000 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 9 | 5 Oct | H | Šibenik | 3 – 1 | 1,500 | Benedejčič, Balaban, Hasančić | HRnogomet.com |
| 10 | 19 Oct | H | Zadarkomerc | 1 – 1 | 2,000 | Peršon | HRnogomet.com |
| 11 | 26 Oct | AR | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 0 – 3 | 300 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 12 | 2 Nov | A | Slaven Belupo | 0 – 0 | 3,000 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 13 | 9 Nov | H | Zagreb | 2 – 1 | 1,500 | Brkić (2) | HRnogomet.com |
| 14 | 19 Nov | A | Mladost 127 | 1 – 1 | 1,500 | Ivančić | HRnogomet.com |
| 15 | 23 Nov | H | Varteks | 1 – 1 | 2,000 | Hasančić | HRnogomet.com |
| 16 | 29 Nov | A | Osijek | 0 – 2 | 1,500 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 17 | 7 Dec | H | Hajduk Split | 1 – 1 | 7,000 | Benedejčič | HRnogomet.com |
| 18 | 22 Feb | A | Croatia Zagreb | 0 – 2 | 4,000 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 19 | 1 Mar | H | Samobor | 0 – 0 | 2,000 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 20 | 8 Mar | A | Šibenik | 1 – 1 | 2,000 | Milinović | HRnogomet.com |
| 21 | 11 Mar | A | Zadarkomerc | 0 – 1 | 5,500 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 22 | 15 Mar | H | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 1 – 0 | 2,000 | Brkić | HRnogomet.com |
| 23 | 22 Mar | H | Šibenik | 0 – 0 | 1,000 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 24 | 29 Mar | H | Varteks | 4 – 1 | 1,200 | Ivančić, Hasančić (2), Milinović | HRnogomet.com |
| 25 | 5 Apr | A | Slaven Belupo | 0 – 1 | 3,000 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 26 | 8 Apr | H | Mladost 127 | 3 – 2 | 1,200 | Hasančić (2), Ivančić | HRnogomet.com |
| 27 | 11 Apr | A | Samobor | 1 – 3 | 700 | Budan | HRnogomet.com |
| 28 | 19 Apr | A | Šibenik | 1 – 0 | 2,000 | Seferović | HRnogomet.com |
| 29 | 26 Apr | A | Varteks | 1 – 1 | 3,000 | Hasančić | HRnogomet.com |
| 30 | 29 Apr | H | Slaven Belupo | 4 – 1 | 1,000 | Brkić, Hasančić (2), Budan | HRnogomet.com |
| 31 | 3 May | A | Mladost 127 | 1 – 3 | 5,000 | Šimić | HRnogomet.com |
| 32 | 10 May | H | Samobor | 1 – 1 | 1,500 | Brkić | HRnogomet.com |
Source: HRnogomet.com

### Croatian Cup

| Round | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Attendance | Rijeka Scorers | Report |
| R1 | 6 Aug | A | Olimpija Osijek | 3 – 0 | 600 | Brkić, Ivančić, Mladenović | HRnogomet.com |
| R2 | 1 Oct | H | Orijent | 0 – 2 | 1,500 | | HRnogomet.com |
Source: HRnogomet.com

### Squad statistics

Competitive matches only. Appearances in brackets indicate numbers of times the player came on as a substitute.
| Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Name | League | League | Cup | Cup | Total | Total |
| Đoni Tafra | 26 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 27 (0) | 0 |
| Mladen Ivančić | 30 (0) | 3 | 2 (0) | 1 | 32 (0) | 4 |
| Damir Milinović | 14 (0) | 2 | 0 (0) | 0 | 14 (0) | 2 |
| Mario Tokić | 25 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 26 (0) | 0 |
| Saša Peršon | 18 (2) | 1 | 1 (0) | 0 | 19 (2) | 1 |
| Mladen Romić | 16 (5) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 17 (5) | 0 |
| Senad Brkić | 22 (4) | 6 | 0 (1) | 1 | 22 (5) | 7 |
| Admir Hasančić | 28 (0) | 11 | 2 (0) | 0 | 30 (0) | 11 |
| Jasmin Agić | 22 (6) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 23 (7) | 0 |
| Saša Paska | 16 (2) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 18 (2) | 0 |
| Igor Benedejčič | 22 (4) | 2 | 1 (0) | 0 | 23 (4) | 2 |
| Renato Pilipović | 18 (7) | 1 | 0 (2) | 0 | 18 (9) | 1 |
| Dalibor Višković | 18 (3) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 20 (3) | 0 |
| Sead Seferović | 24 (2) | 1 | 1 (0) | 0 | 25 (2) | 1 |
| Boško Balaban | 8 (18) | 1 | 2 (0) | 0 | 10 (18) | 1 |
| Sebastjan Cimirotič | 8 (2) | 2 | 2 (0) | 0 | 10 (2) | 2 |
| Mladen Mladenović | 9 (0) | 2 | 2 (0) | 1 | 11 (0) | 3 |
| Igor Budan | 6 (4) | 2 | 0 (0) | 0 | 6 (4) | 2 |
| Željko Župetić | 9 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 9 (1) | 0 |
| Mladen Žganjer | 6 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 7 (0) | 0 |
| Marko Grubišić | 1 (9) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (9) | 0 |
| Vedran Madžar | 4 (2) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 4 (2) | 0 |
| Slađanko Marić | 0 (5) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (5) | 0 |
| Branko Panić | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 |
| Zdravko Šimić | 1 (1) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (1) | 1 |
| Redi Jupi | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (3) | 0 |
| Ljupko Kontešić | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (3) | 0 |