Associazione Sportiva Roma was reinvigorated under new coach Zdeněk Zeman, who recently had been coaching arch rivals Lazio. Zeman brought his attacking 4–3–3 with him, resulting in Roma scoring 67 goals, but also conceding 42, an extreme rarity in defensive-minded Italian football. Roma finished fourth, three places above Lazio in the table. That was the first time it had happened in five years, which delighted the Roma board, and Zeman stayed on for a further season. The season also saw the international breakthrough of former youth-team product Francesco Totti, who at 21 was ready for increased responsibility and captaincy, responding with 13 league goals from a position on the left wing of the attack. Also noticeable was new signing Cafu's offensive skills as a right-wing back, granting him a reputation among the world's top wing backs.
Players
Transfers In Pos. Name from Type DF Cafu Palmeiras €7.60 million FW Paulo Sérgio Bayer Leverkusen €3.50 million MF Eusebio Di Francesco Piacenza Calcio GK Antonio Chimenti Salernitana GK Michael Konsel Rapid Wien GK Andrea Campagnolo Cittadella DF César Gómez CD Tenerife DF Giorgio Lucenti Palermo F.C. DF Iván Helguera Albacete Balompie DF Cristian Servidei Lecce DF Filippo Dal Moro Empoli F.C. MF Vágner Santos Futebol Clube MF Cristiano Scapolo Bologna F.C. FW Carmine Gautieri Perugia Calcio Out Pos. Name To Type FW Daniel Fonseca Juventus €4.70 million DF Amedeo Carboni Valencia CF €4.00 million DF Marco Lanna UD Salamanca end of contract MF Francesco Moriero A.C. Milan end of contract MF Jonas Thern Glasgow Rangers end of contract GK Giovanni Cervone Brescia Calcio GK Giorgio Sterchele Bologna F.C. MF Francesco Statuto Udinese Calcio GK Gianluca Berti A.C. Reggiana GK Giampaolo Di MagnoCarpi DF Enrico Annoni Celtic Glasgow DF Lorenzo StoviniVicenza Calcio MF Antonino Bernardini Perugia Calcio FW Martin Dahlin Blackburn Rovers €3.0 million
Winter In Pos. Name from Type DF Antonio Carlos SC Corinthians Out Pos. Name To Type DF Giorgio Lucenti Empoli F.C. loan FW Andrea Conti Carpi DF Francesco Colonnese Internazionale €1.50 million
Competitions
Overall Competition Started round Final position First match Last match Serie A Matchday 1 4th 31 August 1997 16 May 1998 Coppa Italia Round of 32 Quarter-finals 3 September 1997 21 January 1998 Last updated: 16 May 1998
Serie A
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches
Coppa Italia
Second round
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Statistics Players statistics
References