# 2011–12 Villarreal CF season

The 2011–12 season was Villarreal Club de Fútbol's 89th season in existence and the club's 12th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football. It covered a period from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012.
Villarreal competed in La Liga and participated in the UEFA Champions League, entering in the play-off round due to their fourth-place finish in the 2010–11 La Liga. They entered the Copa del Rey in the Round of 32. This season would end Villarreal's streak in La Liga; on the final day of the season they lost 1–0 to Atlético Madrid, sending them down to 18th and relegating the side to the second division for the first time since the 1999–2000 season.

## Players
### Squad information

    As of 1 September 2011
The numbers are established according to the official website:www.villarrealcf.es and www.lfp.es
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 | César |
| 2 | DF | ARG | Gonzalo Rodríguez (vice-captain) |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Joan Oriol |
| 4 | DF | ARG | Mateo Musacchio |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Carlos Marchena |
| 6 | DF | ESP | Ángel |
| 7 | FW | BRA | Nilmar |
| 8 | MF | NED | Jonathan de Guzmán |
| 9 | FW | ARG | Marco Ruben |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Cani |
| 11 | MF | PAR | Hernán Pérez |
| 12 | DF | COL | Cristián Zapata |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Diego López |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | DF | ESP | Mario |
| 15 | DF | ESP | José Catalá |
| 17 | MF | ESP | Javier Camuñas |
| 18 | MF | GHA | Wakaso Mubarak |
| 19 | MF | ESP | Marcos Senna (captain) |
| 20 | MF | ESP | Borja Valero |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Bruno |
| 22 | FW | ITA | Giuseppe Rossi |
| 23 | FW | ARG | Alejandro Martinuccio |
| 24 | GK | ESP | Diego Mariño |
| 27 | FW | ESP | Gerard Bordas |
| 38 | DF | FRA | Florian Lejeune |
| 41 | FW | ESP | Joselu |

### Transfers
#### In

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving from | Type | Transfer window | Ends | Transfer fee | Source |
| 18 | MF | Cristóbal | 27 | EU | Elche | Loan return | Summer | | N/A | |
| 12 | ST | Jozy Altidore | 21 | Non-EU | Bursaspor | Loan return | Summer | 2014 | N/A | |
| 23 | LW | Jefferson Montero | 21 | Non-EU | Levante | Loan return | Summer | | N/A | Marca.com |
| | CB | Iván Marcano | 24 | EU | Getafe | Loan return | Summer | | N/A | |
| 1 | GK | César | 39 | EU | Valencia | Transfer | Summer | 2012 | Free | AS.com |
| 17 | LW | Javier Camuñas | 31 | EU | Osasuna | Transfer | Summer | 2014 | €2.3M | AS.com |
| 12 | CB | Cristián Zapata | 24 | EU | Udinese | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | €7M | marca.com |
| 8 | MF | Jonathan de Guzmán | 23 | EU | Mallorca | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | €8M | marca.com |
| 23 | ST | Gerard Bordas | 29 | EU | Youth system | Promoted | Summer | | Youth system | |
Total expenditure: €9.3 million

#### Out

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving to | Type | Transfer window | Transfer fee | Source |
| | CB | Iván Marcano | 24 | EU | Olympiacos | Loan | Summer | N/A | AS.com |
| 17 | MF | Javier Matilla | 22 | EU | Betis | Transfer | Summer | €1.2M | AS.com |
| 23 | LW | Jefferson Montero | 21 | Non-EU | Betis | Loan | Summer | N/A | marca.com |
| 24 | RB | Cicinho | 31 | EU | Roma | Loan return | Summer | N/A | marca.com |
| 8 | MF | Santi Cazorla | 26 | EU | Málaga | Transfer | Summer | €19M | malagacf.com |
| 11 | LB | Joan Capdevila | 33 | EU | Benfica | Transfer | Summer | Free | villarrealcf.es |
| 12 | ST | Jozy Altidore | 21 | Non-EU | AZ | Transfer | Summer | Free | sun-sentinel.com |
| 18 | CM | Cristóbal | 27 | EU | Karpaty Lviv | Transfer | Summer | Free | AS.com |
| 25 | GK | Juan Carlos | 23 | EU | Elche | Loan | Summer | N/A | elchecf.org |
| 1 | GK | Xavi Oliva | 35 | EU | | End of contract | Summer | Free | |
Total income: €20.2 million

## Club
### Coaching staff

| Position | Staff |
| Head coach | Juan Carlos Garrido |
| Assistant coach | Raúl Garrido |
| Physical trainers | Carlos Corberán, Javi Ramos |
| Team delegate | Enrique Basauri |
| Representative | Iñaki Morán |
| Medical services | Manuel Tello |
| Physiotherapists | Víctor Salinas, Fernando Granell, Alfonso Calvo |
| Pitch delegate | Juan Ansuátegui Roca |
| Kit managers | Pasqualet, Jorge Garrido, Adrián Ortells |
Source: Villarrealcf.es

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

## 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 | 29 August 2011 | 21 May 2012 | Matchday 1 | 18th | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 39 | 53 | −14 | 023.68 |
| Copa del Rey | 13 December 2011 | 21 December 2011 | Round of 32 | Round of 32 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 000.00 |
| UEFA Champions League | 17 August 2011 | 7 December 2011 | Play-off round | Group stage | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 012.50 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 48 | 10 | 15 | 23 | 45 | 71 | −26 | 020.83 |
Source: Competitions

### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 16 | Zaragoza | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 36 | 61 | −25 | 43 | |
| 17 | Granada | 38 | 12 | 6 | 20 | 35 | 56 | −21 | 42 | |
| 18 | Villarreal (R) | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 39 | 53 | −14 | 41 | Relegation to the Segunda División |
| 19 | Sporting Gijón (R) | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | 42 | 69 | −27 | 37 | Relegation to the Segunda División |
| 20 | Racing Santander (R) | 38 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 28 | 63 | −35 | 27 | Relegation to the Segunda División |
* ↑ RVA 0–0 ZAR; ZAR 1–2 RVA

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 13 May 2012. Source: Competitive matches

#### 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 | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | L | D | L | W | D | D | D | L | L | W | D | W | L | L | D | L | D | L | W | D | W | W | L | D | L | L | L | D | W | D | L | W | D | D | D | D | L | L |
| Position | 19 | 17 | 19 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 18 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Champions League
#### Play-off round
#### Group stage

Times up to 29 October 2011 (matchdays 1–3) are CEST (UTC+02:00), thereafter (matchdays 4–6) times are CET (UTC+01:00).
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BAY | NAP | MCI | VIL |
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 13 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| 2 | Napoli | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 11 | Advance to knockout phase | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 10 | Transfer to Europa League | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 |
| 4 | Villarreal | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 14 | −12 | 0 | | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–3 | — |
Last updated: 10 August 2011. Source: Villarreal CF