2007–08 Villarreal CF season

Villarreal
2007–08 season
President	Fernando Roig
Head coach	Manuel Pellegrini
Stadium	El Madrigal
La Liga	2nd
Copa del Rey	Quarter-finals
UEFA Cup	Round of 32
Top goalscorer	League: Nihat Kahveci (18); All: Nihat Kahveci (21)
Home colours	Away colours
	← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 season was Villarreal Club de Fútbol's 85th season in existence and the club's 8th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football. In addition to the domestic league, Villarreal participated in this season's editions of the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Cup. The season covered the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008.

Season summary

Villarreal enjoyed the best season in their history, finishing as runners-up.

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[2]

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	URU	Sebastián Viera
2	DF	ARG	Gonzalo Rodríguez
3	DF	ESP	Josemi
4	DF	URU	Diego Godín
5	DF	ESP	Joan Capdevila
6	MF	ESP	Josico
7	MF	FRA	Robert Pires
8	MF	ESP	Santi Cazorla
9	FW	MEX	Guillermo Franco^{[notes 1]}
10	MF	ESP	Cani
11	FW	DEN	Jon Dahl Tomasson
12	DF	FRA	Pascal Cygan
13	GK	ESP	Diego López
14	MF	CHI	Matías Fernández^{[notes 2]}


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
15	FW	TUR	Nihat Kahveci
17	DF	ESP	Javi Venta
18	MF	ESP	Ángel
19	MF	ESP	Marcos Senna^{[notes 3]}
20	DF	ARG	Fabricio Fuentes
21	MF	ESP	Bruno
22	FW	ITA	Giuseppe Rossi^{[notes 4]}
23	MF	URU	Sebastián Eguren (on loan from Hammarby)
26	GK	ESP	Juan Carlos
27	DF	ESP	Alberto de la Bella
28	DF	ESP	Kiko
38	DF	ESP	Rocha
44	MF	POR	Feliciano Condesso
45	FW	ESP	Rubén

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
16	MF	ARG	Juan Román Riquelme (to Boca Juniors)
23	FW	ESP	José Mari (to Real Betis)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
24	MF	FRA	Rio Mavuba^{[notes 5]} (on loan to Lille)
30	FW	ESP	Xisco Nadal (to Granada)

Competitions

Overall record

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
La Liga	31 August 2007	30 May 2008	Matchday 1	2nd	38	24	5	9	63	40	+23	063.16
Copa del Rey	29 October 2007	12 November 2008	Round of 32	Quarter-finals	6	3	1	2	8	5	+3	050.00
UEFA Cup	17 September 2007	15 April 2008	First round	Round of 32	8	6	1	1	15	6	+9	075.00
Total					52	33	7	12	86	51	+35	063.46

Source: Competitions

La Liga

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Real Madrid (C)	38	27	4	7	84	36	+48	85	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Villarreal	38	24	5	9	63	40	+23	77	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
3	Barcelona	38	19	10	9	76	43	+33	67	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
4	Atlético Madrid	38	19	7	12	66	47	+19	64^[a]
5	Sevilla	38	20	4	14	75	49	+26	64^[a]	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round

Source: LFP
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th goal difference; 6th number of goals scored; 7th Fair-play points
(C) Champions
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ATM 4–3 SEV; SEV 1–2 ATM

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	24	5	9	63	40	+23	77	12	5	2	33	15	+18	12	0	7	30	25	+5

Source: La Liga

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	W	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	D	L	L	W	D	L	W	W	L	D	W	D	W	D	W	W	W	W	L	L	W	W	W	W	W	W
Position	4	8	3	2	2	2	3	2	3	3	3	2	2	3	4	4	4	5	5	3	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2

Source: La Liga
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

26 August 2007 1	Valencia	0–3	Villarreal	Valencia
				Stadium: Mestalla

2 September 2007 2	Villarreal	0–5	Real Madrid	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

16 September 2007 3	Mallorca	0–1	Villarreal	Palma
				Stadium: Ono Estadi

23 September 2007 4	Villarreal	2–0	Murcia	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

26 September 2007 5	Racing Santander	0–2	Villarreal	Santander
				Stadium: El Sardinero

30 September 2007 6	Villarreal	1–0	Athletic Bilbao	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

7 October 2007 7	Osasuna	3–2	Villarreal	Pamplona
				Stadium: El Sadar

20 October 2007 8	Villarreal	3–1	Barcelona	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

28 October 2007 9	Zaragoza	4–1	Villarreal	Zaragoza
				Stadium: La Romareda

31 October 2007 10	Villarreal	3–0	Levante	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

4 November 2007 11	Atlético Madrid	3–4	Villarreal	Madrid
				Stadium: Vicente Calderón

11 November 2007 12	Villarreal	3–2	Sevilla	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

25 November 2007 13	Villarreal	1–1	Almería	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

2 December 2007 14	Valladolid	2–0	Villarreal	Valladolid
				Stadium: José Zorrilla

9 December 2007 15	Villarreal	0–1	Real Betis	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

16 December 2007 16	Getafe	1–3	Villarreal	Getafe
				Stadium: Coliseum Alfonso Pérez

23 December 2007 17	Villarreal	1–1	Recreativo	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

5 January 2008 18	Espanyol	3–0	Villarreal	Barcelona
				Stadium: Olímpic Lluís Companys

13 January 2008 19	Villarreal	4–3	Deportivo La Coruña	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

19 January 2008 20	Villarreal	3–0	Valencia	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

27 January 2008 21	Real Madrid	3–2	Villarreal	Madrid
				Stadium: Santiago Bernabéu

3 February 2008 22	Villarreal	1–1	Mallorca	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

9 February 2008 23	Murcia	0–1	Villarreal	Murcia
				Stadium: Nueva Condomina

17 February 2008 24	Villarreal	0–0	Racing Santander	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

24 February 2008 25	Athletic Bilbao	1–2	Villarreal	Bilbao
				Stadium: San Mamés

2 March 2008 26	Villarreal	0–0	Osasuna	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

9 March 2008 27	Barcelona	1–2	Villarreal	Barcelona
				Stadium: Camp Nou

16 March 2008 28	Villarreal	2–0	Zaragoza	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

23 March 2008 29	Levante	1–2	Villarreal	Valencia
				Stadium: Ciutat de València

29 March 2008 30	Villarreal	3–0	Atlético Madrid	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

6 April 2008 31	Sevilla	2–0	Villarreal	Seville
				Stadium: Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán

13 April 2008 32	Almería	1–0	Villarreal	Almería
				Stadium: Juegos Mediterráneos

20 April 2008 33	Villarreal	2–0	Valladolid	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

27 April 2008 34	Real Betis	0–1	Villarreal	Seville
				Stadium: Manuel Ruiz de Lopera

4 May 2008 35	Villarreal	2–0	Getafe	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

7 May 2008 36	Recreativo	0–2	Villarreal	Huelva
				Stadium: Nuevo Colombino

11 May 2008 37	Villarreal	2–0	Espanyol	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

18 May 2008 38	Deportivo La Coruña	0–2	Villarreal	A Coruña
				Stadium: Riazor

Copa del Rey

Round of 32

14 November 2007 First leg	Las Palmas	2–4	Villarreal	Las Palmas
				Stadium: Gran Canaria

2 January 2008 Second leg	Villarreal	2–1 (6–3 agg.)	Las Palmas	Villarreal
				Stadium: El Madrigal

Round of 16

9 January 2008 First leg	Recreativo	1–0	Villarreal	Huelva
20:00 CET (UTC+1)	Cáceres 2'	Report		Stadium: Nuevo Colombino Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Javier Turienzo Álvarez

16 January 2008 Second leg	Villarreal	2–0 (a.e.t.) (2–1 agg.)	Recreativo	Villarreal
20:00 CET (UTC+1)	Senna 10' Rossi 102'	Report		Stadium: El Madrigal Attendance: 13,000 Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco

Quarter-finals

24 January 2008 First leg	Villarreal	0–0	Barcelona	Villarreal
22:00 CET (UTC+1)		Report		Stadium: El Madrigal Attendance: 21,000 Referee: Miguel Ángel Pérez Lasa

31 January 2008 Second leg	Barcelona	1–0 (1–0 agg.)	Villarreal	Barcelona
22:00 CET (UTC+1)	Henry 41'	Report		Stadium: Camp Nou Attendance: 78,000 Referee: Manuel Mejuto González

UEFA Cup

First round

20 September 2007 First leg	Villarreal	4–1	BATE Borisov	Villarreal, Spain
	Nihat 6', 50' Senna 18' Tomasson 54'		Zhavnerchik 70'	Stadium: El Madrigal Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Hervé Piccirillo (France)

4 October 2007 Second leg	BATE Borisov	0–2 (1–6 agg.)	Villarreal	Minsk, Belarus
			Cani 24' Ángel 78'	Stadium: Dinamo Stadium Attendance: 5,500 Referee: Brade Sandmoen (Norway)

Group stage

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Villarreal	4	3	1	0	7	3	+4	10	Advance to knockout stage
2	Fiorentina	4	2	2	0	10	4	+6	8
3	AEK Athens	4	1	2	1	4	4	0	5
4	Mladá Boleslav	4	1	0	3	5	6	−1	3
5	IF Elfsborg	4	0	1	3	3	12	−9	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

25 October 2007 1	Villarreal	1–1	Fiorentina	Villarreal, Spain
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Capdevila 86'	Report	Vieri 49'	Stadium: El Madrigal Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)

8 November 2007 2	Mladá Boleslav	1–2	Villarreal	Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic
20:30 CET (UTC+1)	Mendy 90'	Report	Nihat 33' Cazorla 56'	Stadium: Městský Stadion Attendance: 4,082 Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

5 December 2007 3	Villarreal	2–0	Elfsborg	Villarreal, Spain
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Tomasson 2', 51'	Report		Stadium: El Madrigal Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Alexandru Tudor (Romania)

20 December 2007 4	AEK Athens	1–2	Villarreal	Athens, Greece
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Rivaldo 68'	Report	Mavuba 40' Tomasson 69'	Stadium: Olympic Stadium Attendance: 16,380 Referee: Gerald Lehner (Austria)

Knockout phase

Round of 32

13 February 2008 First leg	Zenit Saint Petersburg	1–0	Villarreal	Saint Petersburg, Russia
18:00 CET (UTC+1)	Pogrebnyak 63'	Report		Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 21,500 Referee: Michael Weiner (Germany)

21 February 2008 Second leg	Villarreal	2–1 (2–2 (a) agg.)	Zenit St. Petersburg	Villarreal, Spain
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Franco 75' Tomasson 90'	Report	Pogrebnyak 31'	Stadium: El Madrigal Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Stefan Messner (Austria)

Notes and references

Notes

^ Franco was born in Corrientes, Argentina, but became a naturalised Mexican citizen in 2004 and made his international debut for Mexico in 2005.
^ Fernández was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but was raised in Chile from the age of four and made his international debut for Chile in 2005.
^ Senna was born in São Paulo, Brazil, but obtained Spanish citizenship in 2006 and made his international debut for Spain in March 2006.
^ Rossi was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States, but was raised in Italy from the age of 12 and would make his international debut for Italy in October 2008.
^ Mavuba was born in international waters; his father was Congolese and his mother was Angolan, but Mavuba was raised in France.

References

^ ^a ^b "Squad of Villarreal 2007-08 First Division". www.bdfutbol.com.
^ "FootballSquads - Villarreal - 2007/08".

[table_hth_ATM0.010973975998803-8] ATM 4–3 SEV; SEV 1–2 ATM

[3] Franco was born in Corrientes, Argentina, but became a naturalised Mexican citizen in 2004 and made his international debut for Mexico in 2005.

[4] Fernández was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but was raised in Chile from the age of four and made his international debut for Chile in 2005.

[5] Senna was born in São Paulo, Brazil, but obtained Spanish citizenship in 2006 and made his international debut for Spain in March 2006.

[6] Rossi was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States, but was raised in Italy from the age of 12 and would make his international debut for Italy in October 2008.

[7] Mavuba was born in international waters; his father was Congolese and his mother was Angolan, but Mavuba was raised in France.

[auto-1] "Squad of Villarreal 2007-08 First Division". www.bdfutbol.com.

[2] "FootballSquads - Villarreal - 2007/08".

[1]

[2]

[notes 1]

[notes 2]

[notes 3]

[notes 4]

[notes 5]

[a]