1997–98 S.S.C. Napoli season

S.S.C. Napoli crashed out of Serie A following a disastrous season. It only clinched 14 points out of 34 matches, despite having the services of several experienced Serie A players. Napoli went through four coaches over the course of the season, and hardly took a point in the second half of the season. Given the disastrous form of the team, Claudio Bellucci's ten goals were impressive, while thought top scorer Igor Protti was one of the largest disappointments of the entire series. The lack of defensive skills cost Napoli many points, and more than two goals were conceded on average. This was despite Roberto Ayala's brilliance, which earned him a transfer to A.C. Milan.

Napoli
1997–98 season
ChairmanCorrado Ferlaino
ManagerBortolo Mutti
Carlo Mazzone
Giovanni Galeone
Vincenzo Montefusco
Serie A18th
Coppa ItaliaLast 16
Top goalscorerClaudio Bellucci (10)

Only eight years following Napoli's second title, the club seemed to be in terminal decline, with hard work being needed to return to the top domestic league. Given that the club had not been relegated since a bankruptcy in 1964, the relegation was a shock, by the extremely poor season.

Squad

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Attackers

Serie A
Main article: 1997–98 Serie A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
14 Vicenza 34 9 9 16 36 61 −25 36
15 Brescia (R) 34 9 8 17 45 63 −18 35 Relegation to Serie B
16 Atalanta (R) 34 7 11 16 25 48 −23 32
17 Lecce (R) 34 6 8 20 32 72 −40 26
18 Napoli (R) 34 2 8 24 25 76 −51 14
Source: 1997–98 Serie A, RSSSF.com, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Draw. (Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played).[1]
(R) Relegated.

Matches
1Lazio2–0Napoli
Mancini  68'
Pancaro  76'
2Napoli2–1Empoli
Bellucci  33'
Protti  48'		 C. Esposito  77'
3Vicenza1–1Napoli
Di Napoli  17' Turrini  18'
4Napoli0–1Atalanta
Caccia  50'
5Roma6–2Napoli
Candela  16'
Gautieri  34'
Balbo  51, 60, 89'
Di Francesco  53'		 Altomare  71'
Bellucci  87' (pen.)
6Napoli0–2Inter
Galante  10'
Turrini  69' (o.g.)
7Bologna5–1Napoli
R. Baggio  48' (pen.) 90' 90 + 5' (pen.)
K. Andersson  55, 90 + 3'		 Goretti  14'
8Napoli1–2Juventus
Bellucci  55' Zidane  38'
Fonseca  88'
9Lecce2–0Napoli
M. Rossi  50'
Palmieri  61'
10Napoli1–1Fiorentina
Turrini  34' Firicano  28'
11Piacenza1–0Napoli
Rastelli  87'
12Napoli0–4Parma
Blomqvist  18'
D. Baggio  53'
Crespo  65, 73'
13Sampdoria6–3Napoli
Boghossian  35'
Montella  42' (pen.) 61' 90' (pen.)
Klinsmann  73'
Laigle  76'		 Bellucci  15'
Protti  70'
Rossitto  78'
14Napoli1–2Milan
Bellucci  75' Ganz  52'
Leonardo  71'
15Udinese1–1Napoli
Crasson  90 + 2' (o.g.) Bellucci  27'
16Napoli0–3Brescia
Pirlo  13'
Koźmiński  53'
Diana  90 + 3'
17Bari2–0Napoli
Marcolini  74'
Sala  90 + 3'
18Napoli0–0Lazio
19Empoli5–0Napoli
C. Esposito  24'
Cappellini  37'
Pane  50'
Florijančič  70, 75'
20Napoli2–0Vicenza
Turrini  43' (pen.)
Stojak  47'
21Atalanta1–0Napoli
Lucarelli  16'
22Napoli0–2Roma
Totti  54'
Di Biagio  62'
23Inter2–0Napoli
Zamorano  63'
Ronaldo  73' (pen.)
24Napoli0–0Bologna
25Juventus2–2Napoli
Del Piero  46'
Zalayeta  75'		 Turrini  69'
Protti  90 + 2'
26Napoli2–4Lecce
Protti  35' (pen.)
Altomare  73'		 Casale  2'
Palmieri  29'
Ayala  75' (o.g.)
Atelkin  90 + 3'
27Fiorentina4–0Napoli
Batistuta  40, 67'
Robbiati  80'
Edmundo  86'
28Napoli1–2Piacenza
Bellucci  51' Scienza  34'
Dionigi  84' (pen.)
29Parma3–1Napoli
Crespo  3, 86'
Apolloni  76'		 Bellucci  69'
30Napoli0–2Sampdoria
Crasson  33' (o.g.)
Laigle  87'
31Milan0–0Napoli
32Napoli1–3Udinese
Turrini  12' (pen.) Poggi  4'
Bierhoff  45, 87'
33Brescia2–1Napoli
Adani  57'
Neri  81'		 Bellucci  56'
34Napoli2–2Bari
Bellucci  13'
Stojak  48'		 Guerrero  6'
Volpi  37'

Topscorers
gollark: Idea: start making a game now, then wait 20 years and actually do any of the work, so I can claim I worked on it for 20 years.
gollark: You could use that to argue that if you, say, start up a competing brick company and drop the market price of bricks, you are stealing from other brick companies.
gollark: *However*, that doesn't work on other stuff.
gollark: Anyway, ignoring the "inherent", you raise an interesting point regarding it diminishing the value of other copies.
gollark: Yep!

References
  1. Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005 "Norme organizzative interne della F.I.G.C. - Art. 51.6" (PDF) (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.

Sources
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