| Season | 1997–98 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1 August 1997 – 9 May 1998 |
| Champions | 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2nd Bundesliga title 4thGerman title |
| Relegated | Karlsruher SC 1. FC Köln Arminia Bielefeld |
| Champions League | 1. FC Kaiserslautern Bayern Munich |
| Cup Winners' Cup | MSV Duisburg (domestic cup finalists) |
| UEFA Cup | Bayer Leverkusen VfB Stuttgart Schalke 04 |
| Intertoto Cup | Hansa Rostock Werder Bremen |
| Matches | 306 |
| Goals | 853 (2.79 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Ulf Kirsten (22) |
| Biggest home win | Leverkusen 6–1Karlsruhe (23 August 1997) Leverkusen 6–1Stuttgart (21 December 1997) Leverkusen 5–0Hamburg (18 April 1998) |
| Biggest away win | nine games with a differential of +3 each (2–5 once, 1–4 twice, 0–3 six times) |
| Highest scoring | Duisburg 4–5M'gladbach (9 goals) (31 October 1997) |
1998–99 → | |
The1997–98 Bundesliga was the 35th season of theBundesliga, Germany's premier football league. It began on 1 August 1997[1] and ended on 9 May 1998.[2]FC Bayern Munich were the defending champions.FC Kaiserslautern won the Bundesliga on 1 May 1998 with one match remaining,[3] the only time to date that a newly promoted team has won the league.
Every team played two games against each other team, one at home and one away. Teams received three points for a win and one point for a draw. If two or more teams were tied on points, places were determined bygoal difference and, if still tied, by goals scored. The team with the most points were crowned champions while the three teams with the fewest points were relegated to2. Bundesliga.
Fortuna Düsseldorf,SC Freiburg andFC St. Pauli were relegated to the2. Bundesliga after finishing in the last three places. They were replaced by1. FC Kaiserslautern,VfL Wolfsburg andHertha BSC.
The 1997–98 Bundesliga battle for the championship was fought betweenFC Bayern Munich and1. FC Kaiserslautern. Bayern were the defending champions after having won their 14th German title (their 13th Bundesliga title) in the1996–97 season while Kaiserslautern were re-promoted to the Bundesliga; they had won the1996–97 2. Bundesliga season with a ten-point margin after their first Bundesliga relegation at the end of the1995–96 season. Kaiserslautern was coached byOtto Rehhagel who had been sacked as Bayern coach in the spring of 1996.
Coincidentally, the fixture table was such that both clubs met directly at the first match day. AtMunich Olympic Stadium, Kaiserslautern achieved a surprising 1–0 away win. After another win (1–0 againstHertha BSC) they were at the top of the league table after matchday two. They regained this top position after matchday four and eventually stayed there until the end of the season. After the end of the first half of the season, Kaiserslautern was four points ahead of Bayern, and while it was expected by many that the second direct encounter atFritz-Walter-Stadion would be the start of an eventual change at the top, FCK again beat Bayern, this time 2–0, resulting in a seven-point margin between the two teams after matchday 18. Remarkable matchdays in terms of who would win the championship included round 23 and 24, when Bayern lost two matches in a row, while FCK managed to collect four points. Bayern never overtook Kaiserslautern during the whole season, and after matchday 33, with FCK beatingVfL Wolfsburg 4–0 at home while Bayern only achieving a 0–0 draw atMSV Duisburg, Kaiserslautern were the early champions, with four points ahead with only one match remaining. They were the first team in Bundesliga history to win the championship as a newly promoted team.
Another surprise of the season wasFC Hansa Rostock who just missed qualification for theUEFA Cup, and all three newly promoted teams avoided relegation. At the bottom of the table,Arminia Bielefeld was the first team to be relegated, while1. FC Köln had to go down after a 2–2 draw againstBayer Leverkusen in the final match of the season, ending a consecutive 35-year run of Bundesliga seasons for Cologne and leavingHamburger SV as the "dinosaur" of the league (that is, the only Bundesliga founding member that had never been relegated until 2018).Karlsruher SC left the league after eleven seasons, whileBorussia Mönchengladbach escaped relegation on the last matchday.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern(C) | 34 | 19 | 11 | 4 | 63 | 39 | +24 | 68 | Qualification toChampions League group stage |
| 2 | Bayern Munich | 34 | 19 | 9 | 6 | 69 | 37 | +32 | 66 | Qualification toChampions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Bayer Leverkusen | 34 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 66 | 39 | +27 | 55 | Qualification toUEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | VfB Stuttgart | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 55 | 49 | +6 | 52 | |
| 5 | Schalke 04 | 34 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 38 | 32 | +6 | 52 | |
| 6 | Hansa Rostock | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 54 | 46 | +8 | 51 | Qualification toIntertoto Cup third round |
| 7 | Werder Bremen | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 50 | Qualification toIntertoto Cup second round |
| 8 | MSV Duisburg | 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 43 | 44 | −1 | 44 | Qualification toCup Winners' Cup first round[a] |
| 9 | Hamburger SV | 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 38 | 46 | −8 | 44 | |
| 10 | Borussia Dortmund | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 57 | 55 | +2 | 43 | |
| 11 | Hertha BSC | 34 | 12 | 7 | 15 | 41 | 53 | −12 | 43 | |
| 12 | VfL Bochum | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 41 | 49 | −8 | 41 | |
| 13 | 1860 Munich | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 43 | 54 | −11 | 41 | |
| 14 | VfL Wolfsburg | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 38 | 54 | −16 | 39 | |
| 15 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 54 | 59 | −5 | 38 | |
| 16 | Karlsruher SC(R) | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 48 | 60 | −12 | 38 | Relegation to2. Bundesliga |
| 17 | 1. FC Köln(R) | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 49 | 64 | −15 | 36 | |
| 18 | Arminia Bielefeld(R) | 34 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 43 | 56 | −13 | 32 |
| Home \ Away | BSC | DSC | BOC | SVW | BVB | DUI | HSV | FCK | KSC | KOE | B04 | BMG | M60 | FCB | ROS | S04 | VFB | WOB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hertha BSC | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Arminia Bielefeld | 1–3 | — | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| VfL Bochum | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| Werder Bremen | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 3–0 | 3–2 | 5–2 | 2–2 | — | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| MSV Duisburg | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–5 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–2 |
| Hamburger SV | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 3–0 | 4–3 | 4–0 |
| Karlsruher SC | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–4 | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–5 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 |
| 1. FC Köln | 2–0 | 3–5 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 5–3 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 6–1 | 4–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 6–1 | 2–1 |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 4–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 | — | 5–1 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| 1860 Munich | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–4 | 2–0 | — | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 |
| Bayern Munich | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 5–2 |
| Hansa Rostock | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | — | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Schalke 04 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | 3–4 | 1–1 |
| VfB Stuttgart | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — |