1997–98 Bayer 04 Leverkusen season

The 1997–98 season was the 94th season in the history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen and the club's 19th consecutive season in the top flight of German football. In addition to the domestic league, Leverkusen participated in this season's editions of the DFB-Pokal and the UEFA Champions League.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

1997–98 season
Manager	Christoph Daum
Stadium	BayArena
Bundesliga	3rd
DFB-Pokal	Quarter-finals
UEFA Champions League	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Ulf Kirsten (22) All: Ulf Kirsten (27)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Season summary

Leverkusen dropped a place to third in the final league table. They also impressed on their Champions League debut, reaching the quarter-finals before elimination by eventual champions Real Madrid.

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[1][2]

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  GER Rüdiger Vollborn 2 DF  CRO Robert Kovač[notes 1] 3 DF  GER Markus Happe 4 DF  GER Christian Wörns 5 DF  GER Jens Nowotny 6 DF  CRO Boris Živković[notes 2] 7 MF  CRO Niko Kovač[notes 3] 9 FW  GER Ulf Kirsten 10 MF  BRA Emerson 11 FW  NED Erik Meijer 12 MF  POL Adam Ledwoń 14 FW  GER Markus Feldhoff 15 FW  BRA Paulo Rink[notes 4]

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  CZE Martin Frýdek 17 MF  GER Hans-Peter Lehnhoff 19 DF  DEN Jan Heintze 20 MF  GER Dirk Lottner 22 MF  GER Stefan Beinlich 23 GK  GER Dirk Heinen 24 FW  GER Sebastian Helbig 25 MF  GER Thorsten Nehrbauer 28 DF  GER Carsten Ramelow 30 MF  LUX Manuel Cardoni 31 GK  GER Jörg Schmadtke — MF  NOR Bent Skammelsrud

Left club during 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 8 MF  GER René Rydlewicz (to Arminia Bielefeld) 21 MF  GER Andreas Neuendorf (to Hertha)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  USA Claudio Reyna (to Wolfsburg)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen II

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 26 MF  GER Thorsten Wittek 27 FW  GER Thomas Reichenberger 29 MF  GER Markus Zuraski[notes 5]

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  GER Andreas Voss — MF  GHA Daniel Addo

Transfers

Out

• Lars Leese - Barnsley, June, £250,000
• Daniel Schumann - Freiburg
• Claudio Reyna - Wolfsburg, loan
• Mike Rietpietsch - Fortuna Düsseldorf
• Zé Elias - Inter Milan

References

1. "FootballSquads - Bayer 04 Leverkusen - 1997/98". www.footballsquads.co.uk.
2. "Bayer 04 Leverkusen - Squad 1997/1998". worldfootball.net. 24 September 2023.

Notes

1. Kovač was born in West Berlin, West Germany (now Berlin, Germany), but also qualified to represent Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina internationally through his parents and made his international debut for Croatia in 1999.
2. Živković was born in Živinice, SFR Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina), but also qualified to represent Croatia internationally and made his international debut for Croatia in 1999.
3. Kovač was born in West Berlin, West Germany (now Berlin, Germany), but also qualified to represent Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina internationally through his parents and made his international debut for Croatia in December 1996.
4. Rink was born in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, but gained German citizenship and made his international debut for Germany in September 1998.
5. Zuraski was born in Poland, but also qualified to represent Germany internationally and represented Germany at U-21 level.