| Club: | RCD Espanyol |
| Season: | 1996–97 |
| Chrtitle: | President |
| Chairman: | Francisco Perelló |
| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| Manager: | Pepe Carcelén (to 12 January) Vicente Miera (13 January to 14 March) Paco Flores (from 15 March) |
| Stadium: | Sarrià Stadium |
| League: | La Liga |
| League Result: | 12th |
| Cup1: | Copa del Rey |
| Cup1 Result: | Quarter-finals |
| Cup2: | UEFA Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Second round |
| Prevseason: | 1995–96 |
| Nextseason: | 1997–98 |
The 1996–97 season was the 97th season in the history of RCD Espanyol and the club's third consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football. In addition to the domestic league, Espanyol participated in this season's edition of the Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup.
See main article: 1996–97 La Liga.
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 September | 2 - 3 | |||
| 7 September | 1 - 2 | |||
| 15 September | 1 - 0 | |||
| 21 September | 2 - 2 | |||
| 28 September | 5 - 1 | |||
| 1 October | 0 - 2 | |||
| 12 October | 0 - 0 | |||
| 19 October | 0 - 2 | |||
| 23 October | 2 - 1 | |||
| 26 October | 2 - 1 | |||
| 3 November | 0 - 0 | |||
| 10 November | 1 - 3 | |||
| 16 November | 1 - 2 | |||
| 24 November | 0 - 0 | |||
| 1 December | 0 - 1 | |||
| 8 December | 3 - 0 | |||
| 22 December | 1 - 5 | |||
| 5 January | 0 - 2 | |||
| 12 January | 0 - 1 | |||
| 20 January | 1 - 0 | |||
| 25 January | 1 - 1 |
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 February | 3 - 4 | |||
| 9 February | 2 - 0 | |||
| 16 February | 1 - 2 | |||
| 19 February | 0 - 2 | |||
| 23 February | 0 - 3 | |||
| 3 March | 0 - 2 | |||
| 9 March | 2 - 2 | |||
| 15 March | 0 - 1 | |||
| 23 March | 2 - 1 | |||
| 30 March | 0 - 0 | |||
| 6 April | 1 - 0 | |||
| 14 April | 2 - 0 | |||
| 17 April | 0 - 0 | |||
| 20 April | 1 - 1 | |||
| 4 May | 3 - 0 | |||
| 11 May | 0 - 1 | |||
| 18 May | 1 - 0 | |||
| 25 May | 1 - 3 | |||
| 1 June | 5 - 1 | |||
| 15 June | 1 - 3 | |||
| 21 June | 3 - 2 |
| Round | Opponent | Aggregate | First leg | Second leg | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Venue | Score | Date | Venue | Score | ||||
| Third round | 6 - 3 | 8 January | 4 - 1 | 15 January | 2 - 2 | ||||
| Round of 16 | 2 - 2 (a) | 28 January | 2 - 2 | 5 February | 0 - 0 | ||||
| Quarter-finals | 1 - 1 (a) | 27 February | 0 - 0 | 12 March | 1 - 1 | ||||
Espanyol won 3 - 2 on aggregate.Feyenoord won 3 - 1 on aggregate.