# 2001–02 Valencia CF season

During the 2001–02 season Valencia competed in La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup.

## Summary

Valencia CF won their first La Liga title since the 1970–71 season, in the first campaign of new trainer 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

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ESP | Santiago Cañizares |
| 2 | DF | ARG | Mauricio Pellegrino |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Fábio Aurélio |
| 4 | DF | ARG | Roberto Ayala |
| 5 | DF | SCG | Miroslav Đukić |
| 6 | MF | ESP | David Albelda |
| 7 | FW | NOR | John Carew |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Rubén Baraja |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Salva |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Angulo |
| 11 | FW | ROU | Adrian Ilie |
| 12 | DF | ESP | Carlos Marchena |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Andrés Palop |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Vicente |
| 15 | DF | ITA | Amedeo Carboni |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | MF | ROU | Dennis Şerban |
| 17 | FW | ESP | Juan Sánchez |
| 18 | MF | ARG | Kily González |
| 19 | MF | ESP | Francisco Rufete |
| 20 | DF | FRA | Jocelyn Angloma |
| 21 | MF | ARG | Pablo Aimar |
| 22 | MF | URU | Gonzalo de los Santos |
| 23 | DF | ESP | Curro Torres |
| 24 | FW | ESP | Mista |
| 25 | GK | ESP | David Rángel |
| 26 | MF | ESP | Jandro |
| 31 | DF | ESP | David Navarro |
| 34 | DF | ESP | Javier Garrido Ramírez |
| — | MF | PAR | Ángel Amarilla |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | Salva | Atletico Madrid | €10.80 million |
| DF | Curro Torres | CD Tenerife | loan ended |
| DF | Carlos Marchena | Benfica | Free |
| DF | David Navarro | Valencia CF Mestalla | |
| MF | Francisco Rufete | Malaga CF | €7.75 million |
| MF | Gonzalo de los Santos | Malaga CF | €15.00 million |
| MF | Dennis Șerban | Elche CF | |
| FW | Mista | CD Tenerife | loan ended |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| MF | Gaizka Mendieta | SS Lazio | €48.0 million |
| MF | Didier Deschamps | | retired |
| DF | Joachim Björklund | Venezia F.C. | €4.0 million |
| MF | Luis Milla | | retired |
| MF | Zlatko Zahovic | Benfica | Free |
| FW | Diego Alonso | Atletico Madrid | loan |

## Competitions
### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Real Madrid | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 69 | 44 | +25 | 66 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 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 |
* ↑ Real Madrid qualified directly for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League as holders.

#### 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 | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | D | W | D | D | D | W | D | W | D | W | D | D | L | D | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W |
| Position | 10 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Cup
#### Quarter-finals
## Statistics
### Players statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey | UEFA Cup | UEFA Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | ESP | Cañizares | 40 | -26 | 32 | -23 | 1 | 0 | 7 | -3 |
| 23 | DF | ESP | Curro Torres | 45 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | ARG | Pellegrino | 38 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ARG | Ayala | 37 | 2 | 29 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ITA | Carboni | 43 | 0 | 32+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | ARG | Aimar | 40 | 6 | 23+10 | 4 | 0+1 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| 19 | MF | ESP | Rufete | 41 | 8 | 27+6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6+1 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | ESP | Albelda | 39 | 3 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6+1 | 1 |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Vicente | 40 | 3 | 22+9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5+3 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | ESP | Angulo | 31 | 6 | 21+5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3+2 | 2 |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Salva | 26 | 7 | 19+3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1+2 | 2 |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Palop | 10 | -8 | 6+1 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -4 |
| 18 | MF | ARG | Kily González | 32 | 3 | 15+11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Baraja | 18 | 7 | 15+2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | SCG | Djukic | 26 | 1 | 14+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7+2 | 1 |
| 17 | FW | ESP | Sánchez | 33 | 8 | 12+13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5+3 | 4 |
| 12 | DF | ESP | Marchena | 22 | 1 | 12+4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | URU | De los Santos | 21 | 1 | 12+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | ESP | Mista | 34 | 6 | 10+16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3+5 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Fábio Aurélio | 19 | 1 | 6+9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | NOR | Carew | 24 | 1 | 6+9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6+2 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | ROU | Ilie | 13 | 5 | 6+4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 20 | DF | FRA | Angloma | 4 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | ESP | Navarro | 3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | ROU | Serban | 4 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | ESP | Jandro | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 25 | GK | ESP | David Rángel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | PAR | Amarilla |
* Source: https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/t/t2001-0236.html

### Topscorers

* Rubén Baraja 7
* Salva 5
* Francisco Rufete 5
* Angulo 4
* Pablo Aimar 4
* Mista 4