# 2022–23 Villarreal CF season

The 2022–23 season was the 100th season in the history of Villarreal CF and their 10th consecutive season in the top flight. The club participated in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Europa Conference League.
This season was the first since 2007–08 or 2009–10 without veteran right-back Mario Gaspar who departed to join english club Watford F.C. following the end of the previous campaign.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 25 January 2023
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 | ESP | Pepe Reina |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Kiko Femenía |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Raúl Albiol (captain) |
| 4 | DF | ESP | Pau Torres |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Jorge Cuenca |
| 6 | MF | FRA | Étienne Capoue |
| 7 | FW | ESP | Gerard Moreno |
| 8 | DF | ARG | Juan Foyth |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Dani Parejo |
| 11 | FW | NGA | Samuel Chukwueze |
| 12 | DF | COL | Johan Mojica |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Manu Trigueros (vice-captain) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | FW | SEN | Nicolas Jackson |
| 16 | MF | ESP | Álex Baena |
| 17 | MF | ARG | Giovani Lo Celso (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) |
| 18 | DF | ESP | Alberto Moreno |
| 19 | MF | FRA | Francis Coquelin |
| 20 | MF | ESP | Manu Morlanes |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Yeremy Pino |
| 22 | FW | ESP | José Luis Morales |
| 23 | DF | ALG | Aïssa Mandi |
| 24 | DF | ESP | Alfonso Pedraza |
| 35 | GK | DEN | Filip Jörgensen |

### Reserve team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 26 | MF | ESP | Alberto del Moral |
| 27 | FW | ESP | Diego Collado |
| 28 | MF | ESP | Carlo Adriano |
| 31 | GK | AND | Iker Álvarez |
| 32 | MF | ESP | Antonio Pacheco |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 33 | DF | SEN | Mamadou Fall (on loan from Los Angeles FC) |
| 36 | DF | ESP | Dani Tasende |
| 37 | DF | ESP | Adrián de la Fuente |
| 40 | MF | ESP | Rodri Alonso |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ESP | Iván Martín (at Girona until 30 June 2023) |
| — | MF | ESP | Vicente Iborra (at Levante until 30 June 2023) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | SEN | Boulaye Dia (at Salernitana until 30 June 2023) |
| — | FW | NED | Arnaut Danjuma (at Tottenham Hotspur until 30 June 2023) |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Type | Fee |
| 1 July 2022 | Álex Baena | Girona | Loan return | Loan return |
| 1 July 2022 | Jorge Cuenca | Getafe | Loan return | Loan return |
| 1 July 2022 | Manu Morlanes | Espanyol | Loan return | Loan return |
| 1 July 2022 | José Luis Morales | Levante | Transfer | Free |
| 8 July 2022 | Pepe Reina | Lazio | Transfer | Free |
| 28 July 2022 | Kiko Femenía | Watford | Transfer | Undisclosed |
| 14 August 2022 | Giovani Lo Celso | Tottenham Hotspur | Loan | Loan |
| 1 September 2022 | Johan Mojica | Elche | Transfer | €5.5M |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Type | Fee |
| 1 July 2022 | Serge Aurier | Nottingham Forest | Released | Released |
| 1 July 2022 | Rubén Peña | Osasuna | Transfer | Free |
| 4 July 2022 | Xavi Quintillà | Santa Clara | Transfer | Free |
| 7 July 2022 | Sergio Asenjo | Valladolid | Transfer | Free |
| 28 July 2022 | Moi Gómez | Osasuna | Transfer | €1.8M |
| 28 July 2022 | Mario Gaspar | Watford | Transfer | Free |
| 29 July 2022 | Vicente Iborra | Levante | Loan | Loan |
| 16 August 2022 | Pervis Estupiñán | Brighton & Hove Albion | Transfer | €17.8M |
| 18 August 2022 | Boulaye Dia | Salernitana | Loan | Loan |
| 19 August 2022 | Paco Alcácer | Sharjah | Transfer | Free |
| 6 January 2023 | Gerónimo Rulli | Ajax | Transfer | Undisclosed |
| 25 January 2023 | Arnaut Danjuma | Tottenham Hotspur | Loan | Loan |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| La Liga | 13 August 2022 | 4 June 2023 | Matchday 1 | 5th | 38 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 59 | 40 | +19 | 050.00 |
| Copa del Rey | 12 November 2022 | 19 January 2023 | First round | Round of 16 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 4 | +13 | 075.00 |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 18 August 2022 | 16 March 2023 | Play-off round | Round of 16 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 13 | +8 | 060.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 52 | 28 | 9 | 15 | 97 | 57 | +40 | 053.85 |
Source: Soccerway

### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Atlético Madrid | 38 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 70 | 33 | +37 | 77 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Real Sociedad | 38 | 21 | 8 | 9 | 51 | 35 | +16 | 71 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 5 | Villarreal | 38 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 59 | 40 | +19 | 64 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 6 | Real Betis | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 46 | 41 | +5 | 60 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 7 | Osasuna | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 37 | 42 | −5 | 53 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-off round |
* ↑ Osasuna were initially disqualified from the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League due to historic match-fixing. However, the club became later eligible to participate after an evidence of innocence had been provided.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
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 | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | W | D | W | L | D | D | L | W | L | W | L | L | W | W | W | D | W | L | L | L | L | W | W | D | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | D | W | W | W | L | D |
| Position | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 23 June 2022.

### UEFA Europa Conference League
#### Play-off round

The draw for the play-off round was made on 2 August 2022.

#### Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 26 August 2022.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VIL | LCH | HBS | AW |
| 1 | Villarreal | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 13 | Advance to round of 16 | — | 4–3 | 2–2 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Lech Poznań | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 9 | Advance to knockout round play-offs | 3–0 | — | 0–0 | 4–1 |
| 3 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 7 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 4–0 |
| 4 | Austria Wien | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 15 | −13 | 2 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — |

#### Knockout phase
##### Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 24 February 2023.

## Statistics
### Squad statistics

    Last updated 4 June 2023.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey | UEFA Europa Conference League | UEFA Europa Conference League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | ESP | Pepe Reina | 32 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 35 | GK | DEN | Filip Jörgensen | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | ESP | Kiko Femenía | 28 | 0 | 13+7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Raúl Albiol | 27 | 0 | 24+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ESP | Pau Torres | 39 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Jorge Cuenca | 23 | 0 | 5+5 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 8 | DF | ARG | Juan Foyth | 30 | 1 | 22+2 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | COL | Johan Mojica | 27 | 0 | 5+12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | ESP | Alberto Moreno | 28 | 0 | 14+10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | ALG | Aïssa Mandi | 35 | 0 | 16+5 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ESP | Alfonso Pedraza | 29 | 1 | 20+6 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 33 | DF | SEN | Mamadou Fall | 7 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 37 | DF | ESP | Adrián de la Fuente | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 6 | MF | FRA | Étienne Capoue | 37 | 6 | 22+6 | 3 | 1+3 | 3 | 0+5 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Dani Parejo | 50 | 3 | 37 | 3 | 1+3 | 0 | 3+6 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Manu Trigueros | 30 | 1 | 8+15 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 16 | MF | ESP | Álex Baena | 39 | 12 | 15+11 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 4 |
| 17 | MF | ARG | Giovani Lo Celso | 29 | 2 | 14+8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | FRA | Francis Coquelin | 25 | 3 | 9+7 | 1 | 1+1 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 20 | MF | ESP | Manu Morlanes | 14 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Yeremy Pino | 46 | 4 | 31+5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3+5 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | ESP | Alberto del Moral | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | MF | ESP | Ramon Terrats | 18 | 1 | 11+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | ESP | Gerard Moreno | 29 | 11 | 14+7 | 7 | 2+1 | 3 | 3+2 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | NGA | Samuel Chukwueze | 50 | 13 | 27+10 | 6 | 3+1 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
| 15 | FW | SEN | Nicolas Jackson | 37 | 13 | 16+10 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 3+7 | 1 |
| 22 | FW | ESP | José Luis Morales | 42 | 15 | 11+18 | 7 | 2+1 | 2 | 6+4 | 6 |
| 27 | FW | ESP | Diego Collado | 3 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | FW | ESP | Fer Niño | 3 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | FW | FRA | Haissem Hassan | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | FW | ESP | Jorge Pascual | 3 | 1 | 0+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | NED | Arnaut Danjuma | 17 | 6 | 6+4 | 2 | 1+1 | 2 | 3+2 | 2 |
| 13 | GK | ARG | Gerónimo Rulli | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |