2001–02 Valencia CF season

Valencia CF
2001–02 season
Manager	Rafael Benítez
La Liga	1st
UEFA Cup	Quarter-final
Copa del Rey	First round
Top goalscorer	Rubén Baraja (7)
Home colours	Away colours

Valencia CF won their first La Liga title for more than 30 years, in the first season under new coach Rafael Benítez. The Tenerife recruit had a tough start to his job, with several dropped points and a midfield slot in the beginning of the season, culminating in a disqualification from Copa del Rey for fielding too many non-EU players. Benítez was reported to be near the sack before an away game against Espanyol. With Valencia trailing 2-0 at halftime, the resurgence of the team in the second half allowed the inexperienced coach to keep the job, and it got to be a starting point for a winning streak that eventually saw Valencia claiming the entire league, despite taking only 75 points and scoring a mere 51 goals.

With the attacking play not flowing as previously, the all-conquering defence improved further, conceding only 29 goals, much thanks to keeper Santiago Cañizares and centre halves Mauricio Pellegrino and Roberto Ayala. Defensively minded midfielder Rubén Baraja happened to be the club top scorer with a mere seven goals, forming an effective protecting block with David Albelda.

Squad

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Attackers

Salva
John Carew
Juan Sánchez
Adrian Ilie
Mista

Results

La Liga

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Valencia (C)	38	21	12	5	51	27	+24	75	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Deportivo La Coruña	38	20	8	10	65	41	+24	68
3	Real Madrid[lower-alpha 1]	38	19	9	10	69	44	+25	66
4	Barcelona	38	18	10	10	65	37	+28	64	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
5	Celta Vigo	38	16	12	10	64	46	+18	60	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) Champion.
Notes:

Real Madrid qualified directly for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League as holders.

Matches

25 August 2001 1	Valencia	1–0	Real Madrid
	Angulo 8'

9 September 2001 2	Valladolid	1–1	Valencia
	Caminero 30'		Salva 90'

16 September 2001 3	Valencia	1–0	Las Palmas
	David Albelda 62'

23 September 2001 4	Athletic	2–2	Valencia
	Joseba Etxeberría 64' 2-2 Carlos García 90'		Roberto Ayala 44' 0-2 Pablo Aimar 47'

30 September 2001 5

Valencia

0–0

Alavés

4 October 2001 6	Celta	1–1	Valencia
	Florian Maurice 48'		Juan Sánchez 6'

7 October 2001 7	Valencia	1–0	Villarreal
	Salva 45'

14 October 2001 8	Barcelona	2–2	Valencia
	Javier Saviola 43' Gabri 74'		Salva 26' Carlos Marchena 72'

21 October 2001 9	Valencia	2–0	Zaragoza
	Kily González 32' 2-0 Kily González 80'

28 October 2001 10	Sevilla	1–1	Valencia
	Moisés 46'		David Albelda 20'

4 November 2001 11	Valencia	2–1	Rayo
	Salva 22'Juan Sánchez 88'		Roberto Peragón 40' (pen.)

11 November 2001 12

Osasuna

0–0

Valencia

18 November 2001 13

Valencia

0–0

Tenerife

25 November 2001 14	Real Sociedad	2–0	Valencia
	Edgaras Jankauskas 38' 2-0 Edgaras Jankauskas 65' (pen.)

1 December 2001 15	Valencia	1–1	Mallorca
	Mista 80'		Albert Luque 13'

9 December 2001 16	Deportivo	1–0	Valencia
	Diego Tristán 59'

15 December 2001 17	Espanyol	2–3	Valencia
	Francisco Palencia 24' 2-0 Alex Fernández 44'		Francisco Rufete 59' 2-2 Francisco Rufete 63' 2-3 Adrian Ilie 66'

22 December 2001 18	Valencia	2–1	Málaga
	Vicente 25' 2-1 Mista 30'		Darío Silva 14'

6 January 2002 19	Betis	1–3	Valencia
	Capi 43'		Salva 8' 0-2 Adrian Ilie 16'Rubén Baraja 80' (pen.)

13 January 2002 20	Real Madrid	1–0	Valencia
	Fernando Morientes 72'

20 January 2002 21	Valencia	1–2	Valladolid
	Mauricio Pellegrino 26'		Luis García 20' Fernando Sales 35'

26 January 2002 22	Las Palmas	0–1	Valencia
			Mista 7'

3 February 2002 23	Valencia	2–1	Athletic
	Mista 14' Francisco Rufete 66'		Joseba Etxeberría 73'

6 February 2002 24	Alavés	1–2	Valencia
	Martín Astudillo 2'		Gonzalo de los Santos 3' John Carew 27'

9 February 2002 25

Valencia

0–0

Celta

16 February 2002 26	Villarreal	1–1	Valencia
	Rodolfo Arruabarrena 54'		Pablo Aimar 83'

23 February 2002 27	Valencia	2–0	Barcelona
	Francisco Rufete 16' Pablo Aimar 63'

3 March 2002 28	Zaragoza	0–1	Valencia
			Francisco Rufete 24'

10 March 2002 29	Valencia	2–0	Sevilla
	Juan Sánchez 66' 2-0 Angulo 89'

17 March 2002 30	Rayo	2–1	Valencia
	Mauricio Pellegrino 45' (o.g.) Sergio Corino 58'		Angulo 29'

24 March 2002 31	Valencia	2–1	Osasuna
	Juan Sánchez 78' Rubén Baraja 90'		John Aloisi 85'

30 March 2002 32	Tenerife	0–1	Valencia
			Pablo Aimar 77'

7 April 2002 33	Valencia	4–0	Real Sociedad
	Rubén Baraja 12' Kily González 28' Angulo 55' Mista 89'

13 April 2002 34	Mallorca	1–1	Valencia
	Albert Luque 45'		Rubén Baraja 63'

21 April 2002 35	Valencia	1–0	Deportivo
	Aldo Duscher 69' (o.g.)

27 April 2002 36	Valencia	2–1	Espanyol
	Rubén Baraja 68' 2-1 Rubén Baraja 79'		Raúl Tamudo 30' (pen.)

5 May 2002 37	Málaga	0–2	Valencia
			Roberto Ayala 35' 0-2 Fábio Aurélio 45'

11 May 2002 38	Valencia	2–0	Betis
	Rubén Baraja 44' 2-0 Vicente 90'

Top scorers

La Liga

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[table_note_RMA0.79815774494696-1] Real Madrid qualified directly for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League as holders.