2007–08 Villarreal CF season

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.

Villarreal
2007–08 season
PresidentFernando Roig
Head coachManuel Pellegrini
StadiumEl Madrigal
La Liga2nd
Copa del ReyQuarter-finals
UEFA CupRound of 32
Top goalscorerLeague: Nihat Kahveci (18)[1]
All: Nihat Kahveci (21)[1]

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. NationPlayer
15FW  TURNihat Kahveci
17DF  ESPJavi Venta
18MF  ESPÁngel
19MF  ESPMarcos Senna[notes 3]
20DF  ARGFabricio Fuentes
21MF  ESPBruno
22FW  ITAGiuseppe Rossi[notes 4]
23MF  URUSebastián Eguren (on loan from Hammarby)
26GK  ESPJuan Carlos
27DF  ESPAlberto de la Bella
28DF  ESPKiko
38DF  ESPRocha
44MF  PORFeliciano Condesso
45FW  ESPRubén

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. NationPlayer
24MF  FRARio Mavuba[notes 5] (on loan to Lille)
30FW  ESPXisco Nadal (to Granada)

Competitions

Overall record

CompetitionFirst matchLast matchStarting roundFinal positionRecord
PldWDLGFGAGDWin %
La Liga31 August 200730 May 2008Matchday 12nd3824596340+23063.16
Copa del Rey29 October 200712 November 2008Round of 32Quarter-finals631285+3050.00
UEFA Cup17 September 200715 April 2008First roundRound of 328611156+9075.00
Total52337128651+35063.46

Source: Competitions

La Liga

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1Real Madrid (C)3827478436+4885Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2Villarreal3824596340+2377
3Barcelona38191097643+3367Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
4Atlético Madrid38197126647+1964[a]
5Sevilla38204147549+2664[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:

Results summary

OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
3824596340 +237712523315 +1812073025 +5

Source: La Liga

Results by round

Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
GroundAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA
ResultWLWWWWLWLWWWDLLWDLWWLDWDWDWWWWLLWWWWWW
Position48322232333223444553343333333233222222
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'
ReportStadium: 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)
ReportStadium: 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)ReportStadium: 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'ReportStadium: Camp Nou
Attendance: 78,000
Referee: Manuel Mejuto González

UEFA Cup

First round

v BATE Borisov
20 September 2007 First leg Villarreal 4–1 BATE Borisov Villarreal, Spain
Stadium: El Madrigal
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Hervé Piccirillo (France)
v Villarreal
4 October 2007 Second leg BATE Borisov 0–2
(1–6 agg.)
Villarreal Minsk, Belarus
Stadium: Dinamo Stadium
Attendance: 5,500
Referee: Brade Sandmoen (Norway)

Group stage

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Villarreal431073+410Advance to knockout stage
2 Fiorentina4220104+68
3 AEK Athens41214405
4 Mladá Boleslav410356−13
5 Elfsborg4013312−91
Source: [citation needed]
v Fiorentina
25 October 2007 1 Villarreal 1–1 Fiorentina Villarreal, Spain
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)Report
Stadium: El Madrigal
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)
v Villarreal
8 November 2007 2 Mladá Boleslav 1–2 Villarreal Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic
20:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Městský Stadion
Attendance: 4,082
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)
v Elfsborg
5 December 2007 3 Villarreal 2–0 Elfsborg Villarreal, Spain
20:45 CET (UTC+1)
ReportStadium: El Madrigal
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Alexandru Tudor (Romania)
v Villarreal
20 December 2007 4 AEK Athens 1–2 Villarreal Athens, Greece
20:45 CET (UTC+1)ReportStadium: Olympic Stadium
Attendance: 16,380
Referee: Gerald Lehner (Austria)

Knockout phase

Round of 32
v Villarreal
13 February 2008 First leg Zenit Saint Petersburg 1–0 Villarreal Saint Petersburg, Russia
18:00 CET (UTC+1)ReportStadium: Petrovsky Stadium
Attendance: 21,500
Referee: Michael Weiner (Germany)
v Zenit St. Petersburg
21 February 2008 Second leg Villarreal 2–1
(2–2 (a) agg.)
Zenit St. Petersburg Villarreal, Spain
20:45 CET (UTC+1)ReportStadium: El Madrigal
Attendance: 18,000
Referee: Stefan Messner (Austria)

Notes and references

Notes

References