1998–99 AC Fiorentina season

Fiorentina
1998–99 season
President	Vittorio Cecchi Gori
Manager	Giovanni Trapattoni
Stadium	Stadio Artemio Franchi
Serie A	3rd
Coppa Italia	Runners-up
UEFA Cup	Second round ; (disqualified)
Top goalscorer	League: ; Gabriel Batistuta (21); All: ; Gabriel Batistuta (26)
	← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

Associazione Calcio Fiorentina enjoyed its best season in the 1990s on the pitch, but was left wondering what might have been. Leading the domestic Serie A championship a long way into the season, Fiorentina's title charge fell to pieces, as it lost unnecessary points while eventual champions Milan and runners-up Lazio continued winning their matches. In the end, Fiorentina salvaged third place in the league, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League in 1999–2000.

Its European adventure in 1998–99 however, ended early, when a handmade bomb was thrown at a linesman in the victory against Swiss side Grasshoppers. The linesman escaped serious injury, but Fiorentina were declared losers of the match, despite its victory on the pitch, and were thus thrown out of the tournament. However, it avoided further sanctions. Fiorentina also lost the Coppa Italia Final to Parma, marking another season without titles.

Several players were impressive, with the trio Gabriel Batistuta, Rui Costa and Francesco Toldo being the players really standing out. The defensive line-up and the many goals conceded were the main reasons Fiorentina would not win the title.

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Transfers

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
DF	Moreno Torricelli	Juventus
MF	Jorg Heinrich	Borussia Dortmund
FW	Carmine Esposito	Empoli
DF	Tomas Repka	Sparta Prague
MF	Guillermo Amor	Barcelona

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type
FW	Francesco Flachi	Ancona
GK	Valerio Fiori	Piacenza
DF	Michele Serena	Atletico Madrid
MF	Stefan Schwarz	Valencia
MF	Andrei Kanchelskis	Glasgow Rangers
MF	Domenico Morfeo	A.C. Milan	loan

Competitions

Serie A

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Milan (C)	34	20	10	4	59	34	+25	70	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	Lazio	34	20	9	5	65	31	+34	69	Qualification to Champions League group stage
3	Fiorentina	34	16	8	10	55	41	+14	56	Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round^[1]
4	Parma	34	15	10	9	55	36	+19	55
5	Roma	34	15	9	10	69	49	+20	54^[a]	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round

Source: 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).^[2]
(C) Champions
Notes:

^ ROM 7pts. JUV 5pts. UDI 4pts.

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
34	16	8	10	55	41	+14	56	13	4	0	36	10	+26	3	4	10	19	31	−12

Last updated: 25 July 2015.
Source: Competitive matches

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
Ground	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A
Result	W	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	L	W	D	W	W	D	W	L	W	W	W	D	L	D	D	W	L	W	L	D	L	L	W	L	D	D
Position	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	3	3

Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; = Leader, UEFA Champions League Group stage; = UEFA Champions League Group stage; = UEFA Champions League Qualifying round; = 1999-2000 UEFA Cup; = 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup

Matches

12 September 1998 1	Fiorentina	2–0	Empoli	Florence
	Rui Costa 5' Batistuta 60'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 34,343 Referee: Alfredo Trentalange

20 September 1998 2	Vicenza	1–2	Fiorentina	Vicenza
	Padalino 67' (o.g.)	Report	Batistuta 1' Oliveira 71'	Stadium: Stadio Romeo Menti Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Graziano Cesari

26 September 1998 3	Milan	1–3	Fiorentina	Milan
	Bierhoff 70' (pen.)	Report	Batistuta 6', 46', 52'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Stefano Braschi

4 October 1998 4	Fiorentina	1–0	Udinese	Florence
	Edmundo 90+2'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 34,000 Referee: Stefano Braschi

17 October 1998 5	Roma	2–1	Fiorentina	Rome
	Alenichev 89' Totti 90+4'	Report	Batistuta 32'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 62,000 Referee: Livio Bazzoli

25 October 1998 6	Fiorentina	4–0	Salernitana	Florence
	Edmundo 50', 89' Batistuta 68', 90+2'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Alfredo Trentalange

31 October 1998 7	Parma	2–0	Fiorentina	Parma
	Crespo 36', 52'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Ennio Tardini Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Piero Ceccarini

8 November 1998 8	Fiorentina	4–1	Venezia	Florence
	Padalino 23' Batistuta 40', 65' Rui Costa 64' (pen.)	Report	Schwoch 42' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Massimo De Santis

15 November 1998 9	Piacenza	4–2	Fiorentina	Piacenza
	Rastelli 12' S. Inzaghi 29' (pen.) Cristallini 59' Piovani 90+4'	Report	Rui Costa 23' (pen.) Edmundo 40' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Leonardo Garilli Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Salvatore Racalbuto

22 November 1998 10	Fiorentina	3–1	Internazionale	Florence
	Padalino 5' Batistuta 16' Heinrich 75'	Report	Djorkaeff 3' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 41,000 Referee: Pasquale Rodomonti

29 November 1998 11	Bari	0–0	Fiorentina	Bari
		Report		Stadium: Stadio San Nicola Attendance: 26,000 Referee: Piero Ceccarini

5 December 1998 12	Fiorentina	1–0	Bologna	Florence
	Batistuta 56'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 32,000 Referee: Stefano Braschi

13 December 1998 13	Fiorentina	1–0	Juventus	Florence
	Batistuta 58'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Stefano Farina

20 December 1998 14	Perugia	2–2	Fiorentina	Perugia
	Rapaić 1' Nakata 90+5' (pen.)	Report	Robbiati 10' Batistuta 74'	Stadium: Stadio Renato Curi Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Graziano Cesari

6 January 1999 15	Fiorentina	1–0	Sampdoria	Florence
	Rui Costa 28'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 36,223 Referee: Pierluigi Collina

10 January 1999 16	Lazio	2–0	Fiorentina	Rome
	Vieri 66' Mihajlović 90'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 69,000 Referee: Livio Bazzoli

17 January 1999 17	Fiorentina	4–2	Cagliari	Florence
	Batistuta 7', 79', 89' Edmundo 76'	Report	O'Neill 32' De Patre 59'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 33,073 Referee: Pasquale Rodomonti

24 January 1999 18	Empoli	0–3	Fiorentina	Empoli
		Report	Heinrich 77' Rui Costa 81' Edmundo 83'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Stefano Braschi

31 January 1999 19	Fiorentina	3–0	Vicenza	Florence
	Falcone 36' Torricelli 39' Batistuta 83'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 32,000 Referee: Gennaro Borriello

7 February 1999 20	Fiorentina	0–0	Milan	Florence
	Repka Heinrich Batistuta 89'	Report	Costacurta Ambrosini	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 42,000 Referee: Alfredo Trentalange

14 February 1999 21	Udinese	1–0	Fiorentina	Udine
	Sosa 80'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Friuli Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Piero Ceccarini

21 February 1999 22	Fiorentina	0–0	Roma	Florence
		Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 43,170 Referee: Gennaro Borriello

28 February 1999 23	Salernitana	1–1	Fiorentina	Salerno
	Di Vaio 75'	Report	Torricelli 86'	Stadium: Stadio Arechi Attendance: 33,000 Referee: Fiorenzo Treossi

7 March 1999 24	Fiorentina	2–1	Parma	Florence
	Oliveira 42' Rui Costa 55' (pen.)	Report	Stanić 64'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 34,000 Referee: Pasquale Rodomonti

14 March 1999 25	Venezia	4–1	Fiorentina	Venice
	Recoba 18', 45+2', 90+1' Miceli 42'	Report	Esposito 88' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo Attendance: 12,630 Referee: Domenico Messina

21 March 1999 26	Fiorentina	2–1	Piacenza	Florence
	Batistuta 6' Esposito 90+1'	Report	S. Inzaghi 71' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 33,400 Referee: Pierluigi Collina

3 April 1999 27	Internazionale	2–0	Fiorentina	Milan
	Ronaldo 45' (pen.), 83' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: San Siro Referee: Alfredo Trentalange

11 April 1999 28	Fiorentina	2–2	Bari	Florence
	Rui Costa 41' Padalino 72'	Report	Osmanovski 66' Guerrero 89'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Pasquale Rodomonti

17 April 1999 29	Bologna	3–0	Fiorentina	Bologna
	Simutenkov 28' Bettarini 62' Kolyvanov 69'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Renato Dall'Ara Attendance: 28,000 Referee: Graziano Cesari

25 April 1999 30	Juventus	2–1	Fiorentina	Turin
	Inzaghi 24' Conte 87'	Report	Tacchinardi 85' (o.g.)	Stadium: Stadio delle Alpi Attendance: 46,900 Referee: Fiorenzo Treossi

2 May 1999 31	Fiorentina	5–1	Perugia	Florence
	Batistuta 40' Rui Costa 42', 67' Edmundo 76' (pen.), 90+2'	Report	Firicano 78' (o.g.)	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Pasquale Rodomonti

9 May 1999 32	Sampdoria	3–2	Fiorentina	Genoa
	Montella 29', 51' Palmieri 78'	Report	Rui Costa 20' (pen.) Heinrich 41'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Roberto Bettin

15 May 1999 33	Fiorentina	1–1	Lazio	Florence
	Batistuta 14'	Report	Vieri 27'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Fiorenzo Treossi

23 May 1999 34	Cagliari	1–1	Fiorentina	Cagliari
	Muzzi 90+3'	Report	Zebina 40' (o.g.)	Stadium: Stadio Sant'Elia Referee: Emilio Pellegrino

Coppa Italia

Round of 32

9 September 1998 1st Leg	Padova	0–1	Fiorentina	Padova
			86' Esposito	Stadium: Stadio Euganeo Referee: Cosimo Bolognino

23 September 1998 2nd Leg	Fiorentina	2–0 (3–0 agg.)	Padova	Firenze
	Batistuta 68' Rui Costa 81'			Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Pirrone

Eightfinals

28 October 1998 1st Leg	Fiorentina	1–0	Lecce	Firenze
	Batistuta 83'			Stadium: Artemio Franchi Referee: Livio Bazzoli

10 November 1998 2nd Leg	Lecce	0–4 (0–5 agg.)	Fiorentina	Lecce
			59' (rig) Rui Costa 60' Torricelli 80' Edmundo 87' Batistuta	Stadium: Stadio Via del mare Referee: Cosimo Bolognino

Quarterfinals

2 December 1998 1st Leg	Atalanta	3–2	Fiorentina	Bergamo
	Torricelli 29' (aut) Rossini 65' Carrera 83'		8' (aut) Rustico 34' Edmundo	Stadium: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Referee: Alfredo Trentalange

28 January 1999 2nd Leg	Fiorentina	1–0 (3a–3 agg.)	Atalanta	Firenze
	Robbiati 9'			Stadium: Artemio Franchi Referee: Roberto Bettin

Semifinals

18 February 1999 1st Leg	Bologna	0–2	Fiorentina	Bologna
			32' Esposito 65' Rui Costa	Stadium: Stadio Renato Dall'Ara Referee: Emilio Pellegrino

10 March 1999 2nd Leg	Fiorentina	2–2 (4–2 agg.)	Bologna	Firenze
	Cois 98' Rui Costa 118'		18', 64' Binotto	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Gennaro Borriello

Final

14 April 1999 1st Leg	Parma	1–1	Fiorentina	Parma
20:00	Crespo 16'		81' Batistuta	Stadium: Il Tardini Attendance: 21,038 Referee: Domenico Messina

5 May 1999 2nd Leg	Fiorentina	2–2 (3–3a agg.)	Parma	Firenze
20:00	Řepka 48' Cois 62'		42' Crespo 71' Vanoli	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 39,070 Referee: Stefano Braschi

UEFA Cup

First round

15 September 1998 1st Leg	Fiorentina	2–1	Hajduk Split	Bari, Italy
20:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Esposito 49' Edmundo 50', 81' Heinrich 56' Torricelli 73'	Report	Biliškov 30' Brajković 32' Skoko 38' Vučko 44'	Stadium: Stadio San Nicola Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Graham Barber (England)

29 September 1998 2nd Leg	Hajduk Split	0–0 (1–2 agg.)	Fiorentina	Split, Croatia
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Biliškov 50' Baturina 52'	Report	Cois 21' Padalino 54' Toldo 73'	Stadium: Stadion Poljud Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Claude Colombo (France)

Second round

20 October 1998 1st Leg	Grasshopper	0–2	Fiorentina	Zürich, Switzerland
19:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Esposito 12' Comisetti 63' Christ 67'	Report	Amoroso 1' Batistuta 20' Robbiati 48', 73' Torricelli 64' Padalino 87'	Stadium: Hardturm Referee: Graham Poll (England)

3 November 1998 2nd Leg	Fiorentina	0–3 (Awarded) (2–3 agg.)	Grasshopper	Salerno, Italy
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)	Oliveira 12', 38' Falcone 33'	Report	Cabanas 28' Gren 30'	Stadium: Stadio Arechi Referee: Michel Piraux (Belgium)
Note: The match was abandoned at halftime with the score 2–1 after an official was injured by a firework. Grasshopper were awarded a 3–0 win and advanced 3–2 on aggregate.

Other matches and friendlies

20 August 1998 (1998-08-20) Cirio Cup	Lazio	1–0	Fiorentina	Rome
	Salas 45' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 35,000

3 September 1998 (1998-09-03) Memorial Mario Cecchi Gori, #1	Fiorentina	2–0	Lazio	Florence
	Batistuta 14', 20'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi
Note: The match lasted one 45-minute half

3 September 1998 (1998-09-03) Memorial Mario Cecchi Gori, #2	Fiorentina	0–1	Monaco	Florence
		Report	Trezeguet 39'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi
Note: The match lasted one 45-minute half

Statistics

Players statistics

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Serie A		Coppa		UEFA
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ITA	Toldo	47	-51	33	-39	10	-8	4	-4
3	DF	ITA	Torricelli	43	3	31	2	9	1	3	0
2	DF	CZE	Repka	44	2	31	0	9	2	4	0
5	DF	ITA	Padalino	35	3	28	3	5	0	2	0
17	DF	GER	Heinrich	46	3	33	3	9	0	4	0
24	MF	ITA	Amoroso	38	0	28	0	6	0	4	0
14	MF	ITA	Cois	32	1	22+1	0	7	1	2	0
10	MF	POR	Rui Costa	40	14	31	10	8	4	1	0
9	FW	ARG	Batistuta	41	26	28	21	9	4	4	1
11	FW	BRA	Edmundo	38	12	28	8	6	2	4	2
25	FW	BEL	Oliveira	39	2	27+3	2	8	0	1	0
22	GK	ITA	Mareggini	1	-2	1	-2	-0	0	-0	0
19	DF	ITA	Falcone	38	1	21+5	1	9	0	3	0
27	DF	ITA	Tarozzi	22	0	8+7	0	4	0	3	0
6	DF	ITA	Firicano	16	0	8+3	0	4	0	1	0
	FW	ITA	Ficini	14	0	5+8	0	1	0	0	0
16	FW	ITA	Esposito	23	4	4+11	2	6	2	2	0
23	FW	ITA	Robbiati	29	3	3+19	1	6	1	1	1
7	MF	ESP	Amor	26	0	3+13	0	7	0	3	0
8	MF	ITA	Bigica	11	0	1+6	0	2	0	2	0
4	DF	ITA	Bettarini	7	0	0+2	0	4	0	1	0
20	MF	ITA	Morfeo	14	0	0+2	0	2	0	10
15	DF	ITA	Mirri	3	0	0+1	0	0	0	2	0
12	GK	ITA	Zandona	0	0	0	0
13	DF	ITA	Collacchioni	0	0	0	0
	FW	GRE	Vakouftsis	0	0	0	0
	MF	ITA	Stefani	0	0	0	0

Source: http://calcio-seriea.net/rose/1998/1146/

Goalscorers

References

^ Parma was consequently demoted to UEFA Cup first round
^ 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.

[table_hth_ROM0.25408434972823-2] ROM 7pts. JUV 5pts. UDI 4pts.

[1] Parma was consequently demoted to UEFA Cup first round

[3] 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.

[1]

[a]

[2]