# 2020–21 Villarreal CF season

The 2020–21 season was the 98th season in the existence of Villarreal CF and the club's eighth 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 Europa League. The season covered the period from 20 July 2020 to 30 June 2021, with the late start to the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.
The season was the first since 2005–06 without former captain Bruno Soriano, who retired after the 2019–20 season. On 23 July 2020, the club announced the appointment of three-time Europa League winner and former Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Valencia, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal manager Unai Emery.
On 26 May 2021, Villarreal defeated Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League Final 11–10 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time, winning the competition for the first time in club history.

## Players

    As of 30 January 2021
| No. | Player | Position(s) | Date of birth (age) | Signed in | Contract ends | Signed from | Transfer fees | Apps. | Goals | Notes |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | Sergio Asenjo | GK | (1989-06-28) 28 June 1989 (age 35) | 2013 | 2022 | Atlético Madrid | Free transfer | 222 | 0 | |
| 13 | Gerónimo Rulli | GK | (1992-05-20) 20 May 1992 (age 32) | 2020 | 2024 | Real Sociedad | €5m | 2 | 0 | |
| 35 | Filip Jörgensen | GK | (2002-04-16) 16 April 2002 (age 22) | 2020 | 2025 | Villarreal B | Youth system | 0 | 0 | |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | Mario Gaspar | DF | (1990-11-24) 24 November 1990 (age 34) | 2009 | 2023 | Villarreal B | Youth system | 326 | 10 | captain |
| 3 | Raúl Albiol | DF | (1985-09-04) 4 September 1985 (age 39) | 2019 | 2022 | Napoli | Free transfer | 71 | 1 | 3rd captain |
| 4 | Pau Torres | DF | (1997-01-16) 16 January 1997 (age 28) | 2017 | 2024 | Villarreal B | Youth system | 69 | 4 | |
| 6 | Ramiro Funes Mori | DF | (1991-03-05) 5 March 1991 (age 33) | 2018 | 2022 | Everton | £8.1m | 48 | 2 | |
| 8 | Juan Foyth | DF | (1998-01-12) 12 January 1998 (age 27) | 2020 | 2021 | Tottenham Hotspur | On loan | 16 | 0 | |
| 15 | Pervis Estupiñán | DF | (1998-01-21) 21 January 1998 (age 27) | 2020 | 2027 | Watford | £15m | 25 | 0 | |
| 18 | Alberto Moreno | DF | (1992-07-05) 5 July 1992 (age 32) | 2019 | 2024 | Liverpool | Free transfer | 23 | 0 | |
| 21 | Jaume Costa | DF | (1988-03-18) 18 March 1988 (age 36) | 2012 | 2021 | Valencia Mestalla | | 211 | 5 | |
| 27 | Lanchi | DF | (2001-06-23) 23 June 2001 (age 23) | 2020 | | Villarreal B | Youth system | 0 | 0 | |
| 44 | Andrei Rațiu | DF | (1998-06-20) 20 June 1998 (age 26) | 2019 | | Villarreal B | Youth system | 0 | 0 | |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 5 | Dani Parejo | MF | (1989-04-16) 16 April 1989 (age 35) | 2020 | 2024 | Valencia | Free transfer | 36 | 3 | |
| 10 | Vicente Iborra | MF | (1988-01-16) 16 January 1988 (age 37) | 2019 | 2023 | Leicester City | £9m | 66 | 4 | vice-captain |
| 11 | Samuel Chukwueze | MF | (1999-05-22) 22 May 1999 (age 25) | 2018 | 2023 | Villarreal B | Youth system | 91 | 12 | |
| 14 | Manu Trigueros | MF | (1991-10-17) 17 October 1991 (age 33) | 2012 | | Villarreal B | Youth system | 294 | 19 | |
| 19 | Francis Coquelin | MF | (1991-05-13) 13 May 1991 (age 33) | 2020 | 2024 | Valencia | €6.5m | 22 | 0 | |
| 25 | Étienne Capoue | MF | (1988-07-11) 11 July 1988 (age 36) | 2021 | 2023 | Watford | | 16 | 1 | |
| 28 | Carlo Adriano | MF | (2001-02-12) 12 February 2001 (age 23) | 2020 | | Villarreal B | Youth system | 0 | 0 | |
| 32 | Álex Baena | MF | (2001-07-20) 20 July 2001 (age 23) | 2019 | 2025 | Villarreal B | Youth system | 7 | 0 | |
| - | Ramiro Guerra | MF | (1997-03-21) 21 March 1997 (age 27) | 2017 | | Villarreal B | Youth system | 4 | 0 | |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 7 | Gerard Moreno | FW | (1992-04-07) 7 April 1992 (age 32) | 2018 | 2023 | Espanyol | €20m | 103 | 49 | |
| 9 | Carlos Bacca | FW | (1986-09-08) 8 September 1986 (age 38) | 2017 | 2022 | Milan | €7m | 110 | 28 | |
| 12 | Dani Raba | FW | (1995-10-29) 29 October 1995 (age 29) | 2017 | | Villarreal B | Youth system | 34 | 2 | |
| 17 | Paco Alcácer | FW | (1993-08-30) 30 August 1993 (age 31) | 2020 | 2025 | Borussia Dortmund | €23m | 40 | 10 | |
| 20 | Rubén Peña | FW | (1991-07-18) 18 July 1991 (age 33) | 2019 | 2024 | Eibar | €8m | 45 | 3 | |
| 23 | Moi Gómez | FW | (1994-06-23) 23 June 1994 (age 30) | 2019 | 2023 | Sporting Gijón | €1.3m | 72 | 9 | |
| 24 | Alfonso Pedraza | FW | (1996-04-09) 9 April 1996 (age 28) | 2015 | | Villarreal B | Youth system | 67 | 4 | |
| 30 | Yeremy Pino | FW | (2002-10-20) 20 October 2002 (age 22) | 2020 | 2024 | Villarreal B | Youth system | 23 | 3 | |
| 34 | Fer Niño | FW | (2000-10-24) 24 October 2000 (age 24) | 2020 | 2024 | Villarreal B | Youth system | 22 | 3 | |
| 40 | Álex Millán | FW | (1999-11-07) 7 November 1999 (age 25) | 2020 | | Villarreal B | Youth system | 1 | 0 | |
| Players transferred during the season ||||||||||||
| 16 | Takefusa Kubo | MF | (2001-06-04) 4 June 2001 (age 23) | 2020 | 2021 | Real Madrid Castilla | On loan | 13 | 0 | |
| 22 | Sofian Chakla | DF | (1993-09-02) 2 September 1993 (age 31) | 2020 | | Villarreal B | Youth system | 3 | 0 | Out on loan |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Type | Fee |
| 20 July 2020 | Jaume Costa | Valencia | Loan return | Loan return |
| 20 July 2020 | Alfonso Pedraza | Real Betis | Loan return | Loan return |
| 20 July 2020 | Enes Ünal | Valladolid | Loan return | Loan return |
| 21 July 2020 | Enric Franquesa | Mirandés | Loan return | Loan return |
| 21 July 2020 | Miguelón | Huesca | Loan return | Loan return |
| 21 July 2020 | Dani Raba | Huesca | Loan return | Loan return |
| 10 August 2020 | Takefusa Kubo | Real Madrid | Loan | €2.5M |
| 12 August 2020 | Francis Coquelin | Valencia | Transfer | €6.5M |
| 12 August 2020 | Dani Parejo | Valencia | Transfer | Free |
| 4 September 2020 | Gerónimo Rulli | Real Sociedad | Transfer | €5M |
| 15 September 2020 | Mario González | Clermont | Transfer | Free |
| 16 September 2020 | Pervis Estupiñán | Watford | Transfer | €16.5M |
| 4 October 2020 | Juan Foyth | Tottenham Hotspur | Loan | Loan |
| 30 December 2020 | Étienne Capoue | Watford | Transfer | Undisclosed |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Type | Fee |
| 20 July 2020 | Mariano Barbosa | Unattached | End of contract | End of contract |
| 20 July 2020 | Bruno Soriano | Retired | Retired | Retired |
| 20 July 2020 | André-Frank Zambo Anguissa | Fulham | Loan return | Loan return |
| 4 August 2020 | Akram Afif | Al Sadd | Buyout clause | €1M |
| 4 August 2020 | Álvaro | Marseille | Buyout clause | €5M |
| 4 August 2020 | Santi Cazorla | Al Sadd | Transfer | Free |
| 4 August 2020 | Karl Toko Ekambi | Lyon | Buyout clause | €11.5M |
| 4 August 2020 | Andrei Rațiu | ADO Den Haag | Loan | Loan |
| 12 August 2020 | Enes Ünal | Getafe | Transfer | €9M |
| 13 August 2020 | Sergio Lozano | Cartagena | Loan | Loan |
| 14 August 2020 | Iván Martín | Mirandés | Loan | Loan |
| 18 August 2020 | Xavi Quintillà | Norwich City | Loan | Loan |
| 25 August 2020 | Miguelón | Espanyol | Loan | Loan |
| 27 August 2020 | Enric Franquesa | Girona | Loan | Loan |
| 28 August 2020 | Andrés Fernández | Huesca | Transfer | Undisclosed |
| 7 September 2020 | Manu Morlanes | Almería | Loan | Loan |
| 15 September 2020 | Mario González | Tondela | Loan | Loan |
| 22 September 2020 | Jorge Cuenca | Almería | Loan | Loan |
| 24 September 2020 | Javier Ontiveros | Huesca | Loan | €650K |
| 8 January 2021 | Takefusa Kubo | Real Madrid | Loan return | Loan return |
| 30 January 2021 | Sofian Chakla | Getafe | Loan | Loan |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

## 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 September 2020 | 22 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | 7th | 38 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 60 | 44 | +16 | 039.47 |
| Copa del Rey | 16 December 2020 | 3 February 2021 | First round | Quarter-finals | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 2 | +10 | 080.00 |
| UEFA Europa League | 22 October 2020 | 26 May 2021 | Group stage | Winners | 15 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 9 | +22 | 080.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 58 | 31 | 16 | 11 | 103 | 55 | +48 | 053.45 |
Source: Soccerway

### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 5 | Real Sociedad | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 59 | 38 | +21 | 62 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 6 | Real Betis | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 61 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 7 | Villarreal | 38 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 60 | 44 | +16 | 58 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 8 | Celta Vigo | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 55 | 57 | −2 | 53 | |
| 9 | Granada | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 47 | 65 | −18 | 46 | |
* ↑ Since the winners of the 2020–21 Copa del Rey, Barcelona, qualified for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League based on league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners (Europa League group stage) was passed to the sixth-placed team, and the spot awarded to the sixth-placed team (2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round) was passed to the seventh-placed team, Villarreal.
* ↑ Villarreal qualified for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League by winning the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League. Based on their league position (7th), they would have received the spot above to enter the Europa Conference League play-off round. This spot was vacated without replacement as per UEFA regulations.
* ↑ Granada finished ahead of Athletic Bilbao on head-to-head goal difference: Granada 2–0 Athletic Bilbao, Athletic Bilbao 2–1 Granada.

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

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 31 August 2020.

### UEFA Europa League
#### Group stage

The group stage draw was held on 2 October 2020.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VIL | MTA | SIV | QRB |
| 1 | Villarreal | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 5 | +12 | 16 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 4–0 | 5–3 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 11 | Advance to knockout phase | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Sivasspor | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 6 | | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Qarabağ | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 1 | | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–3 | — |
* 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 The match was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.
* ↑ The Villarreal v Qarabağ match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Villarreal after being cancelled as several players of the Qarabağ squad tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2.

#### Knockout phase
##### Round of 32

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 14 December 2020.

##### Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 26 February 2021.

##### Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 19 March 2021.

##### Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was held on 19 March 2021, after the quarter-final draw.

##### Final
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

    Last updated 26 May 2021.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey | UEFA Europa League | UEFA Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | ESP | Sergio Asenjo | 37 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | ARG | Gerónimo Rulli | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | ESP | Mario Gaspar | 29 | 0 | 21+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Raúl Albiol | 47 | 2 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| 4 | DF | ESP | Pau Torres | 44 | 3 | 33 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 6 | DF | ARG | Ramiro Funes Mori | 20 | 0 | 8+2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 |
| 8 | DF | ARG | Juan Foyth | 32 | 1 | 13+3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10+2 | 1 |
| 15 | DF | ECU | Pervis Estupiñán | 33 | 0 | 12+13 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | ESP | Alberto Moreno | 9 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | ESP | Rubén Peña | 29 | 1 | 12+6 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 | 6+2 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | ESP | Jaume Costa | 25 | 1 | 3+11 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5+3 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ESP | Alfonso Pedraza | 44 | 2 | 24+5 | 1 | 2+1 | 1 | 10+2 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 5 | MF | ESP | Dani Parejo | 53 | 3 | 36 | 3 | 1+4 | 0 | 10+2 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Vicente Iborra | 18 | 0 | 10+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | NGA | Samuel Chukwueze | 40 | 5 | 13+15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10+1 | 1 |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Manu Trigueros | 54 | 2 | 30+5 | 1 | 3+2 | 0 | 12+2 | 1 |
| 19 | MF | FRA | Francis Coquelin | 32 | 0 | 7+15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4+3 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | ESP | Moi Gómez | 49 | 4 | 29+6 | 4 | 1+2 | 0 | 1+10 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | FRA | Étienne Capoue | 27 | 1 | 15+1 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | ESP | Carlo Adriano | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | ESP | Yeremi Pino | 37 | 7 | 6+18 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2+7 | 1 |
| 32 | MF | ESP | Álex Baena | 20 | 2 | 2+4 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 4+5 | 2 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | ESP | Gerard Moreno | 46 | 30 | 30+3 | 23 | 0+1 | 0 | 9+3 | 7 |
| 9 | FW | COL | Carlos Bacca | 35 | 9 | 9+14 | 5 | 2+1 | 1 | 7+2 | 3 |
| 12 | FW | ESP | Dani Raba | 11 | 1 | 1+4 | 0 | 2+2 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | ESP | Paco Alcácer | 39 | 12 | 19+8 | 6 | 1+1 | 0 | 6+4 | 6 |
| 34 | FW | ESP | Fernando Niño | 27 | 8 | 8+9 | 3 | 2+3 | 3 | 1+4 | 2 |
| 40 | FW | ESP | Álex Millán | 2 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who have made an appearance or had a squad number this season but have left the club ||||||||||||
| 22 | DF | MAR | Sofian Chakla | 3 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | JPN | Takefusa Kubo | 19 | 1 | 2+11 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |

### Goalscorers

    As of 26 May 2021
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Europa League | Total |
| 1 | 7 | FW | | Gerard | 23 | 0 | 7 | 30 |
| 2 | 17 | FW | | Paco Alcácer | 6 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
| 3 | 9 | FW | | Carlos Bacca | 5 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 4 | 34 | FW | | Fer Niño | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | 30 | MF | | Yeremi Pino | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | 11 | MF | | Samuel Chukwueze | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | 23 | MF | | Moi Gómez | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | 4 | DF | | Pau Torres | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | 5 | MF | | Dani Parejo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | 3 | DF | | Raúl Albiol | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | 14 | MF | | Manu Trigueros | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | 24 | DF | | Alfonso Pedraza | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 32 | MF | | Álex Baena | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 14 | 8 | DF | | Juan Foyth | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | 12 | FW | | Dani Raba | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 16 | MF | | Takefusa Kubo | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | 20 | DF | | Rubén Peña | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 21 | DF | | Jaume Costa | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 22 | DF | | Sofian Chakla | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 25 | MF | | Étienne Capoue | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 40 | FW | | Álex Millán | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 60 | 12 | 28 | 100 |