1997–98 1. FC Kaiserslautern season
# 1997–98 1. FC Kaiserslautern season

## Season summary

Kaiserslautern started their season with a shock 1–0 win at reigning champions Bayern Munich, and followed this with a 1–0 victory against Hertha BSC that left them top of the table. From the fourth matchday onwards Kaiserslautern would not relinquish first place. By the beginning of the second half of the season Kaiserslautern were four points clear of Bayern, a lead increased to seven points after completing the double over the Bavarians. Bayern continued to falter and Kaiserslautern confirmed their second-ever Bundesliga title with a 4–0 victory over Wolfsburg in the penultimate round. This is the only time in Bundesliga history that a newly promoted side has won the title - the closest any team has come to repeating this feat was RB Leipzig's second place in 2016–17.

## Players

### First-team squad

    Squad at end of season

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

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | GK | GER | Andreas Reinke |
| 3 | MF | GER | Michael Ballack |
| 4 | DF | GER | Axel Roos |
| 5 | DF | CZE | Miroslav Kadlec |
| 6 | DF | GER | Andreas Brehme |
| 7 | MF | BUL | Marian Hristov |
| 8 | MF | GER | Martin Wagner |
| 9 | FW | CZE | Pavel Kuka |
| 10 | MF | SUI | Ciriaco Sforza |
| 11 | FW | GER | Olaf Marschall |
| 12 | MF | GER | Stefan Ertl |
| 13 | DF | GER | Roger Lutz |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | HUN | János Hrutka |
| 16 | DF | DEN | Michael Schjønberg |
| 17 | MF | BRA | Ratinho |
| 18 | FW | GER | Jürgen Rische |
| 19 | DF | GER | Oliver Schäfer |
| 22 | MF | GER | Andreas Buck |
| 23 | MF | GER | Thomas Riedl |
| 24 | DF | GER | Harry Koch |
| 25 | GK | HUN | Lajos Szűcs |
| 26 | MF | NGA | Pascal Ojigwe |
| 27 | MF | GER | Marco Reich |
| 30 | MF | GER | Thomas Franck |

### Left club during season

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

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2 | DF | GER | Frank Greiner (to Wolfsburg) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 30 | GK | CZE | Petr Kouba (to Viktoria Žižkov) |

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Bundesliga

**League table**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern (C) | 34 | 19 | 11 | 4 | 63 | 39 | +24 | 68 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Bayern Munich | 34 | 19 | 9 | 6 | 69 | 37 | +32 | 66 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Bayer Leverkusen | 34 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 66 | 39 | +27 | 55 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | VfB Stuttgart | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 55 | 49 | +6 | 52 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Schalke 04 | 34 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 38 | 32 | +6 | 52 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
