2003–04 Valencia CF season

Valencia CF

2003–04 season
Manager	Rafael Benítez
Stadium	Mestalla Stadium
La Liga	1st
UEFA Cup	Winners
Copa del Rey	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Mista (19) All: Mista (24)
Home colours Away colours
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

During the 2003–04 Spanish football season, Valencia CF won the double of La Liga and the UEFA Cup. At the end of the season, manager Rafael Benítez left to manage English side Liverpool and was succeeded by former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri.

The 2002-03 season had been disappointing, as Valencia had failed to retain its La Liga title, and while it made it to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, its 5th place league finish also relegated it to the UEFA Cup for the upcoming season.

Squad

Squad at end of season^[1]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Santiago Cañizares 2 DF Mauricio Pellegrino 3 DF Fábio Aurélio 4 DF Roberto Ayala 5 DF Carlos Marchena 6 MF David Albelda 7 FW Ricardo Oliveira 8 MF Rubén Baraja 10 MF Miguel Ángel Angulo 11 FW Juan Sánchez 12 DF Javier Garrido 13 GK Andrés Palop 14 MF Vicente 15 DF Amedeo Carboni 16 MF Fabián Canobbio 17 DF David Navarro

No. Position Player 18 MF Jorge López 19 MF Francisco Rufete 20 FW Mista 21 MF Pablo Aimar 23 DF Curro Torres[2] 24 MF Xisco 25 MF Mohamed Sissoko 26 MF Jaime Gavilán 28 GK David Rangel 29 FW Borja Criado 31 DF Vicente Verdejo 33 GK Jonathan 35 DF Angel Roberto Amarilla 36 DF Jean-Félix Dorothée 38 MF César Soriano 39 DF Raúl Albiol

Left club during season

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

No. Position Player 9 FW Salva Ballesta (on loan to Málaga)

No. Position Player 22 MF Gonzalo de los Santos (on loan to Atlético Madrid)

Results

UEFA Cup

First round

AIK v Valencia

11 March 2004	AIK	1 - 0	Valencia	Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara
	Daems  12' (pen.)

Valencia v AIK

25 March 2004	Valencia	1–0 (a.e.t.)	AIK	Estadio Mestalla, Valencia
	Mista  63' Rodríguez  94'

Second round

• Maccabi Haifa 0-0 Valencia
• Valencia 4-0 Maccabi Haifa

Third round

• Valencia 3–2 Beşiktaş
• Beşiktaş 0-2 Valencia

Fourth round

Gençlerbirliği v Valencia

11 March 2004	Gençlerbirliği	1–0	Valencia	Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara
	Daems  12' (pen.)

Valencia v Gençlerbirliği

25 March 2004	Valencia	2–0 (a.e.t.)	Gençlerbirliği	Estadio Mestalla, Valencia
	Mista  63' Rodríguez  94'

Quarter-final

Bordeaux v Valencia

8 April 2004	Bordeaux	1–2	Valencia	Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
	Riera  18'		Baraja  75' Rufete  88'

Valencia v Bordeaux

14 April 2004	Valencia	2–1	Bordeaux	Estadio Mestalla, Valencia
	Pellegrino  52' Rufete  60'		Eduardo  71'

Semi-final

Villarreal v Valencia

22 April 2004	Villarreal	0–0	Valencia	Estadio El Madrigal, Vila-real
21:45 CEST				Attendance: 23,000 Referee: Lucílio Batista (Portugal)

Valencia v Villarreal

6 May 2004	Valencia	1–0	Villarreal	Estadio Mestalla, Valencia
21:45 CEST	Mista  16' (pen.)			Attendance: 52,000 Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway)

Final

Valencia v Marseille

19 May 2004	Valencia	2–0	Marseille	Ullevi, Gothenburg
20:45 CEST	Vicente  45+3' (pen.) Mista  58'	Report		Attendance: 39,000 Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy)

References

1. http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/spain/2003-2004/laliga/valencia.htm
2. Torres was born in Ahlen, West Germany (now Germany).