1997–98 UEFA Cup — 27th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA
Internazionale won the 1997–98 UEFA Cup in the first final held as a single match at a neutral venue, marking a structural change to the competition.
Key Facts
- Winner
- Internazionale (Italy)
- Final format
- First single-match final at neutral venue
- Final opponent
- Lazio (Italy) — all-Italian final
- Inter's title count
- Third UEFA Cup title in eight years
- French teams represented
- Seven (Strasbourg, Auxerre, Bastia, Nantes, Lyon, Bordeaux, Metz)
- Tournament edition
- 27th season of the UEFA Cup
Cause → Event → Consequence
UEFA restructured its club competitions ahead of the 1997–98 season, moving the runners-up of major European leagues into the Champions League rather than the UEFA Cup, and reformatting the UEFA Cup final from a two-legged tie to a single match at a neutral stadium.
The 27th UEFA Cup was contested across the 1997–98 season, featuring seven French clubs for the first time from one nation. Internazionale defeated fellow Italian club Lazio in the final, claiming their third UEFA Cup title in eight years in the competition's inaugural one-match neutral-venue final.
The shift to a neutral single-match final established a format that aligned the UEFA Cup finale more closely with other major cup finals. The exclusion of league runners-up also reshaped the UEFA Cup's participant profile, reducing the presence of top-tier clubs and further differentiating it from the expanded Champions League.