2001–02 Valencia CF season

Valencia CF won their first La Liga title since the 1970–71 season, in the first campaign of new trainer 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.

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.

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 Santiago Cañizares 2 DF   ARG Mauricio Pellegrino 3 DF   BRA Fábio Aurélio 4 DF   ARG Roberto Ayala 5 DF   SCG Miroslav Đukić 6 MF   ESP David Albelda 7 FW   NOR John Carew 8 MF   ESP Rubén Baraja 9 FW   ESP Salva 10 MF   ESP Angulo 11 FW   ROU Adrian Ilie 12 DF   ESP Carlos Marchena 13 GK   ESP Andrés Palop 14 MF   ESP Vicente 15 DF   ITA Amedeo Carboni

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF   ROU Dennis Şerban 17 FW   ESP Juan Sánchez 18 MF   ARG Kily González 19 MF   ESP Francisco Rufete 20 DF   FRA Jocelyn Angloma 21 MF   ARG Pablo Aimar 22 MF   URU Gonzalo de los Santos 23 DF   ESP Curro Torres 24 FW   ESP Mista 25 GK   ESP David Rángel 26 MF   ESP Jandro 31 DF   ESP David Navarro 34 DF   ESP Javier Garrido Ramírez — MF   PAR Ángel Amarilla

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		La Liga		Copa del Rey		UEFA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ESP	Cañizares	40	-26	32	-23	1	0	7	-3
23	DF	ESP	Curro Torres	45	0	34	0	1	0	10	0
2	DF	ARG	Pellegrino	38	1	30	1	1	0	7	0
4	DF	ARG	Ayala	37	2	29	2	0+1	0	7	0
15	DF	ITA	Carboni	43	0	32+1	0	1	0	9	0
21	MF	ARG	Aimar	40	6	23+10	4	0+1	0	6	2
19	MF	ESP	Rufete	41	8	27+6	5	1	1	6+1	2
6	MF	ESP	Albelda	39	3	32	2	0	0	6+1	1
14	MF	ESP	Vicente	40	3	22+9	2	1	0	5+3	1
10	FW	ESP	Angulo	31	6	21+5	4	0	0	3+2	2
9	FW	ESP	Salva	26	7	19+3	5	1	0	1+2	2
13	GK	ESP	Palop	10	-8	6+1	-4	0	0	3	-4
18	MF	ARG	Kily González	32	3	15+11	3	0	0	5+1	0
8	MF	ESP	Baraja	18	7	15+2	7	0	0	0+1	0
5	DF	SCG	Djukic	26	1	14+2	0	1	0	7+2	1
17	FW	ESP	Sánchez	33	8	12+13	4	0	0	5+3	4
12	DF	ESP	Marchena	22	1	12+4	1	1	0	3+2	0
22	MF	URU	De los Santos	21	1	12+1	1	1	0	6+1	0
24	FW	ESP	Mista	34	6	10+16	5	0	0	3+5	1
3	DF	BRA	Fábio Aurélio	19	1	6+9	1	0	0	2+2	0
7	FW	NOR	Carew	24	1	6+9	1	1	0	6+2	0
11	FW	ROU	Ilie	13	5	6+4	2	0	0	3	3
20	DF	FRA	Angloma	4	0	2+1	0	0	0	0+1	0
31	DF	ESP	Navarro	3	0	1+1	0	0	0	0+1	0
16	MF	ROU	Serban	4	0	0+3	0	0+1	0
26	MF	ESP	Jandro	1	0	0+1	0
25	GK	ESP	David Rángel	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	PAR	Amarilla

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