2005–06 Valencia CF season

During the 2005–06 Spanish football season, Valencia CF competed in La Liga.

Valencia CF

2005-06 season
Manager	Quique Sánchez Flores
Stadium	Mestalla Stadium
La Liga	3rd
Copa del Rey	Quarter-finals
Intertoto Cup	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: David Villa (25) All: David Villa (28)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

Season summary

Valencia opened a new chapter in its history with the appointment of Spanish high-rated coach Quique Sánchez Flores, who had been successful managing Getafe. The most significant player during the season was new striker David Villa, signed from Real Zaragoza in the summer, who netted 25 goals over the full season but losing the topscoring battle of La Liga to Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o with 26 strikes, which was a near low-record. Valencia ended a league season finished 3rd place, just a single point behind Real Madrid and secured UEFA Champions League third qualifying round in the following season. To make matters worse, Valencia had endured a worst UEFA Intertoto Cup run, being beaten 1–0 later eliminated in the final UEFA Intertoto Cup by German club Hamburg and thus failed to qualify for UEFA Cup. This was only their earliest exit from European competitions for the first time.

Most notable new players also include Dutch veteran Patrick Kluivert, Spanish young defence starlet Raúl Albiol, Brazilian Edu and Juan Mora.

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ESP Santiago Cañizares 2 DF  POR Miguel 3 DF  BRA Fábio Aurélio 4 DF  ARG Roberto Ayala 5 DF  ESP Carlos Marchena 6 MF  ESP David Albelda 7 FW  ESP David Villa 8 MF  ESP Rubén Baraja 9 FW  NED Patrick Kluivert 10 MF  ESP Miguel Ángel Angulo 11 MF  URU Mario Regueiro 13 GK  ESP Juan Mora 14 MF  ESP Vicente

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  ITA Amedeo Carboni 16 MF  POR Hugo Viana 17 DF  ESP David Navarro 18 MF  ESP Jorge López 19 MF  ESP Francisco Rufete 20 FW  ESP Mista 21 MF  ARG Pablo Aimar 22 MF  BRA Edu[notes 1] 23 DF  ESP Curro Torres 24 DF  ITA Emiliano Moretti 25 GK  FRA Ludovic Butelle 27 MF  ESP Pablo Hernández 33 DF  ESP Raúl Albiol

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 DF  POR Marco Caneira (on loan to Sporting CP) 18 MF  URU Gonzalo de los Santos (released)

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 FW  ITA Marco Di Vaio (on loan to AS Monaco)

Results

La Liga

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Barcelona (C)	38	25	7	6	80	35	+45	82	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Real Madrid	38	20	10	8	70	40	+30	70
3	Valencia	38	19	12	7	58	33	+25	69	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
4	Osasuna	38	21	5	12	49	43	+6	68
5	Sevilla	38	20	8	10	54	39	+15	68	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) Champions

Copa del Rey

Quarter-final

Deportivo v Valencia

19 January 2006	Deportivo	1–0	Valencia	A Coruña
22:00 CET	Sergio 78' (pen.)	Report (in Spanish)		Stadium: Riazor Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Eduardo Iturralde González

Valencia v Deportivo

25 January 2006 1 February 2006[2]	Valencia	1–1	Deportivo	Valencia
22:00 CET 22:00 CET	Villa 43'	Report (in Spanish) Report (in Spanish)	Víctor 69' (pen.)	Stadium: Mestalla Attendance: 32,000 / 0 Referee: Megía Dávila

Intertoto Cup

Third round

Gent v Valencia

17 July 2005	Gent	0–0	Valencia	Jules Ottenstadion, Ghent
				Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Paolo Dondarini (Italy)

Valencia v Gent

23 July 2005	Valencia	2–0	Gent	Mestalla Stadium, Valencia
	Villa 6' Kluivert 80'			Attendance: 17,000 Referee: Ruud Bossen (Netherlands)

Valencia won 2–0 on aggregate.

Semi-final

Valencia v Roda

27 July 2005	Valencia	4–0	Roda	Mestalla Stadium, Valencia
22:00	Rufete 36', 41', 50' Moretti 83'	Report		Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Markus Nobs (Switzerland)

Roda v Valencia

3 August 2005	Roda	0–0	Valencia	Parkstad Limburg Stadion, Kerkrade
20:00		Report		Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Espen Berntsen (Norway)

Valencia won 4–0 on aggregate.

Final

Hamburg v Valencia

9 August 2005 (2005-08-09)	Hamburg	1–0	Valencia	AOL Arena, Hamburg
20:15	Barbarez 50'	Report		Attendance: 55,386 Referee: Stuart Dougal (Scotland)

Valencia v Hamburg

23 August 2005 (2005-08-23)	Valencia	0–0	Hamburg	Mestalla Stadium, Valencia
22:00		Report		Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Laurent Duhamel (France)

Hamburg won 1–0 on aggregate.