# 2008–09 Villarreal CF season

The 2008–09 season was Villarreal Club de Fútbol's 86th season in existence and the club's 9th 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 Champions League. The season covered the period from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009.

## Players
### First-team squad

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 | URU | Sebastián Viera |
| 2 | DF | ARG | Gonzalo Rodríguez |
| 4 | DF | URU | Diego Godín |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Joan Capdevila |
| 6 | MF | URU | Sebastián Eguren |
| 7 | MF | FRA | Robert Pires |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Santi Cazorla |
| 9 | FW | MEX | Guillermo Franco |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Cani |
| 11 | MF | ARG | Ariel Ibagaza |
| 12 | DF | FRA | Pascal Cygan |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Diego López |
| 14 | MF | CHI | Mati Fernández |
| 15 | FW | TUR | Nihat |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | FW | ESP | Joseba Llorente |
| 17 | DF | ESP | Javi Venta |
| 18 | DF | ESP | Ángel |
| 19 | MF | ESP | Marcos Senna (captain) |
| 20 | DF | ARG | Fabricio Fuentes |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Bruno Soriano |
| 22 | FW | ITA | Giuseppe Rossi |
| 26 | GK | ESP | Juan Carlos |
| 27 | MF | ESP | Jordi Pablo |
| 29 | DF | ESP | Mario Gaspar |
| 30 | FW | ESP | Joan Tomás |
| 36 | DF | ESP | Kiko |
| — | MF | ECU | Jefferson Montero |

### 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 |
| — | FW | USA | Jozy Altidore (to Xerez) |
| — | MF | ARG | Damián Escudero (to Real Valladolid) |
| — | FW | URU | Robert Flores (to River Plate) |
| — | MF | ESP | Marquitos (to Real Sociedad) |
| — | FW | ARG | Marco Ruben (to Huelva) |
| — | FW | CHI | Mathias Vidangossy (to Everton Viña del Mar) |
| — | FW | ESP | Jonathan Pereira (to Racing de Santander) |

## 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 | 31 August 2008 | 30 May 2009 | Matchday 1 | 5th | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 61 | 54 | +7 | 047.37 |
| Copa del Rey | 29 October 2008 | 12 November 2008 | Round of 32 | Round of 32 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 000.00 |
| UEFA Champions League | 17 September 2008 | 15 April 2009 | Group stage | Quarter-finals | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 13 | +0 | 030.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 50 | 21 | 17 | 12 | 75 | 73 | +2 | 042.00 |
Source: Competitions

### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Sevilla | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 54 | 39 | +15 | 70 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Atlético Madrid | 38 | 20 | 7 | 11 | 80 | 57 | +23 | 67 | Qualification for the Champions League play-off round |
| 5 | Villarreal | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 61 | 54 | +7 | 65 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 6 | Valencia | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 68 | 54 | +14 | 62 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 7 | Deportivo La Coruña | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 48 | 47 | +1 | 58 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Scoreboard

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

#### Matches
### UEFA Champions League
#### Group stage

The group stage draw was held on 28 August 2008.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MUN | VIL | AAB | CEL |
| 1 | Manchester United | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 10 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Villarreal | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 9 | Advance to knockout phase | 0–0 | — | 6–3 | 1–0 |
| 3 | AaB | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 6 | Transfer to UEFA Cup | 0–3 | 2–2 | — | 2–1 |
| 4 | Celtic | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 5 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | — |

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

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 19 December 2008.

##### Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 20 March 2009.