2001–02 Valencia CF season

Valencia CF won their first La Liga title for more than 30 years, in the first season under new coach 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.

Valencia CF

2001–02 season
Manager	Rafael Benítez
La Liga	1st
UEFA Cup	Quarter-final
Copa del Rey	First round
Top goalscorer	Rubén Baraja (7)
Home colours Away colours

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

Goalkeepers

• Santiago Cañizares
• Andrés Palop
• David Rángel

Defenders

• Ángel Amarilla
• Fábio Aurélio
• Amedeo Carboni
• Mauricio Pellegrino
• Miroslav Đukić
• Roberto Ayala
• Jocelyn Angloma
• Carlos Marchena
• Curro Torres
• David Navarro

Midfielders

• Francisco Rufete
• Gonzalo de los Santos
• David Albelda
• Kily González
• Rubén Baraja
• Dennis Şerban
• Angulo
• Pablo Aimar
• Vicente
• Jandro

Attackers

• Salva
• John Carew
• Juan Sánchez
• Adrian Ilie
• Mista

Results

La Liga

League table

Pos	Team	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
3	Real Madrid[lower-alpha 1]	38	19	9	10	69	44	+25	66
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

Source: LFP
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th goal difference; 6th number of goals scored; 7th Fair-play points
(C) Champion.
Notes:

1. Real Madrid qualified directly for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League as holders.

Matches

25 August 2001 1	Valencia	1–0	Real Madrid
	Angulo  8'

9 September 2001 2	Valladolid	1–1	Valencia
	Caminero  30'		Salva  90'

16 September 2001 3	Valencia	1–0	Las Palmas
	David Albelda  62'

23 September 2001 4	Athletic	2–2	Valencia
	Joseba Etxeberría  64' 2-2 Carlos García  90'		Roberto Ayala  44' 0-2 Pablo Aimar  47'

30 September 2001 5

Valencia

0–0

Alavés

4 October 2001 6	Celta	1–1	Valencia
	Florian Maurice  48'		Juan Sánchez  6'

7 October 2001 7	Valencia	1–0	Villarreal
	Salva  45'

14 October 2001 8	Barcelona	2–2	Valencia
	Javier Saviola  43' Gabri  74'		Salva  26' Carlos Marchena  72'

21 October 2001 9	Valencia	2–0	Zaragoza
	Kily González  32' 2-0 Kily González  80'

28 October 2001 10	Sevilla	1–1	Valencia
	Moisés  46'		David Albelda  20'

4 November 2001 11	Valencia	2–1	Rayo
	Salva  22'Juan Sánchez  88'		Roberto Peragón  40' (pen.)

11 November 2001 12

Osasuna

0–0

Valencia

18 November 2001 13

Valencia

0–0

Tenerife

25 November 2001 14	Real Sociedad	2–0	Valencia
	Edgaras Jankauskas  38' 2-0 Edgaras Jankauskas  65' (pen.)

1 December 2001 15	Valencia	1–1	Mallorca
	Mista  80'		Albert Luque  13'

9 December 2001 16	Deportivo	1–0	Valencia
	Diego Tristán  59'

15 December 2001 17	Espanyol	2–3	Valencia
	Francisco Palencia  24' 2-0 Alex Fernández  44'		Francisco Rufete  59' 2-2 Francisco Rufete  63' 2-3 Adrian Ilie  66'

22 December 2001 18	Valencia	2–1	Málaga
	Vicente  25' 2-1 Mista  30'		Darío Silva  14'

6 January 2002 19	Betis	1–3	Valencia
	Capi  43'		Salva  8' 0-2 Adrian Ilie  16'Rubén Baraja  80' (pen.)

13 January 2002 20	Real Madrid	1–0	Valencia
	Fernando Morientes  72'

20 January 2002 21	Valencia	1–2	Valladolid
	Mauricio Pellegrino  26'		Luis García  20' Fernando Sales  35'

26 January 2002 22	Las Palmas	0–1	Valencia
			Mista  7'

3 February 2002 23	Valencia	2–1	Athletic
	Mista  14' Francisco Rufete  66'		Joseba Etxeberría  73'

6 February 2002 24	Alavés	1–2	Valencia
	Martín Astudillo  2'		Gonzalo de los Santos  3' John Carew  27'

9 February 2002 25

Valencia

0–0

Celta

16 February 2002 26	Villarreal	1–1	Valencia
	Rodolfo Arruabarrena  54'		Pablo Aimar  83'

23 February 2002 27	Valencia	2–0	Barcelona
	Francisco Rufete  16' Pablo Aimar  63'

3 March 2002 28	Zaragoza	0–1	Valencia
			Francisco Rufete  24'

10 March 2002 29	Valencia	2–0	Sevilla
	Juan Sánchez  66' 2-0 Angulo  89'

17 March 2002 30	Rayo	2–1	Valencia
	Mauricio Pellegrino  45' (o.g.) Sergio Corino  58'		Angulo  29'

24 March 2002 31	Valencia	2–1	Osasuna
	Juan Sánchez  78' Rubén Baraja  90'		John Aloisi  85'

30 March 2002 32	Tenerife	0–1	Valencia
			Pablo Aimar  77'

7 April 2002 33	Valencia	4–0	Real Sociedad
	Rubén Baraja  12' Kily González  28' Angulo  55' Mista  89'

13 April 2002 34	Mallorca	1–1	Valencia
	Albert Luque  45'		Rubén Baraja  63'

21 April 2002 35	Valencia	1–0	Deportivo
	Aldo Duscher 69' (o.g.)

27 April 2002 36	Valencia	2–1	Espanyol
	Rubén Baraja  68' 2-1 Rubén Baraja  79'		Raúl Tamudo  30' (pen.)

5 May 2002 37	Málaga	0–2	Valencia
			Roberto Ayala  35' 0-2 Fábio Aurélio  45'

11 May 2002 38	Valencia	2–0	Betis
	Rubén Baraja  44' 2-0 Vicente  90'

Top scorers

La Liga

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