# 2018–19 Villarreal CF season

The 2018–19 season was Villarreal Club de Fútbol's 96th season in existence and the club's 6th 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 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019.

## Players

    As of 4 September 2018
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 | Sergio Asenjo |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Mario Gaspar (vice-captain) |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Álvaro |
| 4 | DF | ARG | Ramiro Funes Mori |
| 5 | MF | ARG | Santiago Cáseres |
| 6 | DF | ESP | Víctor Ruiz |
| 7 | FW | ESP | Gerard |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Pablo Fornals |
| 9 | FW | COL | Carlos Bacca |
| 10 | FW | ITA | Nicola Sansone |
| 11 | DF | ESP | Jaume Costa |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Andrés Fernández |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Manu Trigueros |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | ESP | Miguelón |
| 16 | MF | ESP | Alfonso Pedraza |
| 17 | FW | CMR | Karl Toko Ekambi |
| 18 | MF | ESP | Javi Fuego |
| 19 | MF | ESP | Santi Cazorla |
| 20 | MF | CHI | Manuel Iturra |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Bruno (captain) |
| 22 | MF | ESP | Dani Raba |
| 23 | DF | ITA | Daniele Bonera |
| 24 | DF | MEX | Miguel Layún |
| 25 | GK | ARG | Mariano Barbosa |
| 28 | MF | ESP | Manu Morlanes |

### 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 |
| 30 | MF | NGA | Samuel Chukwueze |
| 40 | MF | GHA | Emmanuel Lomotey (on loan from Extremadura) |

### 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 |
| — | GK | ESP | Ander Cantero (at Rayo Majadahonda until 30 June 2019) |
| — | DF | ESP | Juan Ibiza (at Almería until 30 June 2019) |
| — | DF | ESP | Pau Torres (at Málaga until 30 June 2019) |
| — | DF | POR | Ivan Abramovic (at Huesca until 30 June 2019) |
| — | MF | SEN | Alfred N'Diaye (at Málaga until 30 June 2019) |
| — | MF | ESP | Chuca (at Elche until 30 June 2019) |
| — | MF | URU | Ramiro Guerra (at Gimnàstic until 30 June 2019) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | RUS | Denis Cheryshev (at Valencia until 30 June 2019) |
| — | MF | ARG | Leo Suárez (at Valladolid until 30 June 2019) |
| — | MF | ITA | Roberto Soriano (at Torino until 30 June 2019) |
| — | FW | QAT | Akram Afif (at Al Sadd until 30 June 2019) |
| — | FW | ARG | Cristian Espinoza (at Boca Juniors until 31 December 2018) |
| — | FW | TUR | Enes Ünal (at Valladolid until 30 June 2019) |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Type | Fee |
| 6 June 2018 | Karl Toko Ekambi | Angers | Transfer | €18,000,000 |
| 12 June 2018 | Gerard | Espanyol | Transfer | €20,000,000 |
| 21 June 2018 | Ramiro Funes Mori | Everton | Transfer | €20,000,000 |
| 30 June 2018 | Akram Afif | Al Sadd | Loan return | Loan return |
| 30 June 2018 | Cristian Espinoza | Boca Juniors | Loan return | Loan return |
| 30 June 2018 | Alfred N'Diaye | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Loan return | Loan return |
| 30 June 2018 | Matías Nahuel | Barcelona B | Loan return | Loan return |
| 30 June 2018 | Alfonso Pedraza | Alavés | Loan return | Loan return |
| 11 July 2018 | Miguel Layún | Porto | Transfer | €4,000,000 |
| 16 July 2018 | Santiago Cáseres | Vélez Sarsfield | Transfer | €10,000,000 |
| 9 August 2018 | Santi Cazorla | Unattached | Transfer | Free |
| 17 August 2018 | Carlos Bacca | Milan | Transfer | €7,000,000 |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Type | Fee |
| 24 May 2018 | Rodri | Atlético Madrid | Transfer | €20,000,000 |
| 13 June 2018 | Roger Martínez | Jiangsu Suning | Loan return | Loan return |
| 30 June 2018 | Salem Al-Dawsari | Al-Hilal | Loan return | Loan return |
| 30 June 2018 | Carlos Bacca | Milan | Loan return | Loan return |
| 4 July 2018 | Antonio Rukavina | Astana | Transfer | Free |
| 19 July 2018 | Rúben Semedo | Huesca | Loan | Loan |
| 6 August 2018 | Pau Torres | Málaga | Loan | Loan |
| 9 August 2018 | Adrián Marín | Alavés | Transfer | Undisclosed |
| 10 August 2018 | Alfred N'Diaye | Málaga | Loan | Loan |
| 14 August 2018 | Denis Cheryshev | Valencia | Loan | Loan |
| 17 August 2018 | Samu Castillejo | Milan | Transfer | €25,000,000 |
| 17 August 2018 | Roberto Soriano | Torino | Loan | €1,000,000 |
| 19 August 2018 | Leo Suárez | Valladolid | Loan | Loan |
| 19 August 2018 | Enes Ünal | Valladolid | Loan | Loan |
| 21 August 2018 | Ramiro Guerra | Gimnàstic | Loan | Loan |
| 31 August 2018 | Matías Nahuel | Olympiacos | Transfer | Undisclosed |

## 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 | 18 August 2018 | 19 May 2019 | Matchday 1 | 14th | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 49 | 52 | −3 | 026.32 |
| Copa del Rey | 1 November 2018 | 17 January 2019 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 025.00 |
| UEFA Europa League | 20 September 2018 | 18 April 2019 | Group stage | Quarter-finals | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 20 | 13 | +7 | 041.67 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 54 | 16 | 21 | 17 | 83 | 73 | +10 | 029.63 |
Source: Competitions

### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 12 | Eibar | 38 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 46 | 50 | −4 | 47 |
| 13 | Leganés | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 37 | 43 | −6 | 45 |
| 14 | Villarreal | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 49 | 52 | −3 | 44 |
| 15 | Levante | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 59 | 66 | −7 | 44 |
| 16 | Valladolid | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 32 | 51 | −19 | 41 |
* 1 2 Villarreal finished ahead of Levante on head-to-head points: Villarreal 1–1 Levante, Levante 0–2 Villarreal.
* ↑ Valladolid finished ahead of Celta Vigo on head-to-head points: Celta Vigo 3–3 Valladolid, Valladolid 2–1 Celta Vigo.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
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 | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | D | L | W | D | W | L | L | D | L | D | D | W | L | L | D | D | D | L | D | L | D | D | W | L | L | W | W | L | D | L | W | W | W | D | L | W | D |
| Position | 16 | 13 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VIL | RW | RAN | SPM |
| 1 | Villarreal | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 10 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 5–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Rapid Wien | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 10 | Advance to knockout phase | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Rangers | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 6 | | 0–0 | 3–1 | — | 0–0 |
| 4 | Spartak Moscow | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 5 | | 3–3 | 1–2 | 4–3 | — |
* 1 2 Head-to-head points: Villarreal 4, Rapid Wien 1.

#### Knockout phase
##### Quarter-finals
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

    Last updated on 19 May 2019.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey | Europa League | Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | ESP | Sergio Asenjo | 32 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Andrés Fernández | 22 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 25 | GK | ARG | Mariano Barbosa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | ESP | Mario Gaspar | 40 | 1 | 30+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Álvaro | 41 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ARG | Ramiro Funes Mori | 42 | 2 | 29+2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9+1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | ESP | Víctor Ruiz | 33 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | ESP | Jaume Costa | 29 | 1 | 18+3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ESP | Miguelón | 16 | 0 | 5+3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | ITA | Daniele Bonera | 11 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | ESP | Pepe Castaño | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | DF | ROU | Andrei Rațiu | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 39 | DF | ESP | Xavi Quintillà | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 5 | MF | ARG | Santiago Cáseres | 34 | 0 | 17+6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7+2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Pablo Fornals | 50 | 5 | 28+7 | 2 | 0+3 | 0 | 10+2 | 3 |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Vicente Iborra | 25 | 4 | 19 | 3 | 0+1 | 0 | 3+2 | 1 |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Manu Trigueros | 34 | 0 | 18+6 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | ESP | Alfonso Pedraza | 45 | 4 | 22+12 | 3 | 2+1 | 0 | 6+2 | 1 |
| 18 | MF | ESP | Javi Fuego | 11 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | ESP | Santi Cazorla | 46 | 7 | 30+5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3+7 | 2 |
| 21 | MF | ESP | Bruno | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | ESP | Dani Raba | 17 | 2 | 2+6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4+1 | 1 |
| 28 | MF | ESP | Manu Morlanes | 16 | 1 | 7+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+2 | 1 |
| 30 | MF | NGA | Samuel Chukwueze | 38 | 8 | 19+7 | 5 | 2+1 | 2 | 5+4 | 1 |
| 37 | MF | ESP | Iván Martín | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | ESP | Gerard Moreno | 49 | 13 | 25+10 | 8 | 0+3 | 1 | 7+4 | 4 |
| 9 | FW | COL | Carlos Bacca | 43 | 11 | 12+21 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4+3 | 2 |
| 17 | FW | CMR | Karl Toko Ekambi | 43 | 18 | 24+10 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 5+2 | 3 |
| Players who have made an appearance or had a squad number this season but have left the club ||||||||||||
| 10 | FW | ITA | Nicola Sansone | 7 | 1 | 0+3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | CHI | Manuel Iturra | 4 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | MEX | Miguel Layún | 15 | 0 | 5+3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| - | MF | URU | Ramiro Guerra | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - | FW | ARG | Leonardo Suárez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - | FW | TUR | Enes Ünal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - | FW | ESP | Matías Nahuel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |