The 1998–99 season was Chelsea F.C.'s 85th competitive season, seventh consecutive season in the Premier League and 93rd year as a club.
Season summary After a solid fourth-place finish coupled with European and League Cup success the previous season, Chelsea really felt that they could challenge for the title this season. Chelsea made more big name signings, including French World Cup winning defender Marcel Desailly from A.C. Milan, Spanish international full-back Albert Ferrer from Barcelona and, in a club-record £5.4 million move, Italian international striker Pierluigi Casiraghi from Lazio. Casiraghi's season and career was cut short by a knee injury, but his compatriot Gianfranco Zola had arguably the best season of his career, leading Chelsea to a serious title challenge, scoring 15 goals in all competitions and setting up many other goals for his teammates.
Ultimately, the European Super Cup, won by beating Champions League winners Real Madrid, was the only trophy that Chelsea had to show for them. Their defence of the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup ended in the semi-finals, while their title challenge was ended in early May when they couldn't get the better of Manchester United or Arsenal. Nonetheless, a final third-place finish booked them their first ever UEFA Champions League campaign and was another triumph for their young manager Gianluca Vialli, who, at 35, announced his retirement as a player to concentrate on his managerial duties.
Final league table
Results summary
Results by round
Squad
Left club during season
Reserve squad
Statistics
Statistics taken from . Squad details and shirt numbers from and .
Results
Premier League
Goalscorers
Gianfranco Zola 13 Gustavo Poyet 11 Tore Andre Flo 10 Bjarne Goldbaek 5 Frank Leboeuf 4 Celestine Babayaro 3 Dan Petrescu 3 Roberto Di Matteo 2 Pierluigi Casiraghi 1 Jody Morris 1 Mikael Forssell 1 Gianluca Vialli 1
UEFA Super Cup DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 28 August 1998 Real MadridN1–010,000Poyet
Goalscorers
Gustavo Poyet 1
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 17 September 1998 R1 HelsingborgH1–017,714Leboeuf 1 October 1998 R1 HelsingborgA0–012,348 22 October 1998 R2 CopenhagenH1–121,207Desailly 5 November 1998 R2 CopenhagenA1–024,188Laudrup 4 March 1999 QF VålerengaH3–034,177Babayaro, Zola, Wise 18 March 1999 QF VålerengaA3–217,936Vialli, Lambourde, Flo 8 April 1999 SF MallorcaH1–135,524Flo 22 April 1999 SF MallorcaA0–118,848
Goalscorers
Tore Andre Flo 2 Frank Leboeuf 1 Marcel Desailly 1 Brian Laudrup 1 Celestine Babayaro 1 Gianfranco Zola 1 Dennis Wise 1 Gianluca Vialli 1 Bernard Lambourde 1
League Cup DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 28 October 1998 R3Aston VillaH4–126,790Vialli (3), Flo 11 November 1998 R4ArsenalA5–037,562Leboeuf, Vialli (2), Poyet (2) 1 December 1998 QFWimbledonA1–219,286Vialli
Goalscorers
Gianluca Vialli 6 Gustavo Poyet 2 Tore Andre Flo 1 Frank Leboeuf 1
FA Cup DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 2 January 1999 R3Oldham AthleticA2–012,770Vialli (2) 25 January 1999 R4Oxford UnitedA1–19,059Leboeuf (pen.) 3 February 1999 R4 (R)Oxford UnitedH4–232,106Wise, Zola, Forssell (2) 13 February 1999 R5Sheffield WednesdayA1–029,410Di Matteo 7 March 1999 R6Manchester UnitedA0–054,587 10 March 1999 R6 (R)Manchester UnitedH0–233,075
Goalscorers Gianluca Vialli 2 Mikael Forssell 2 Frank Leboeuf 1 Dennis Wise 1 Gianfranco Zola 1 Roberto Di Matteo 1
References