2004–05 Valencia CF season

Popular manager Claudio Ranieri returned to Valencia for a second spell in charge after being dismissed by Chelsea. The team started well, winning the UEFA Super Cup and winning 14 points from their first six matches, but in October a strong start were cut short by heralded a run of only one win from seven games and elimination from the Champions League. Form failed to improve in 2005, with a six-match winless run and early elimination from the UEFA Cup. Ranieri was sacked in late February with the team in sixth place. Youth coach Antonio López took charge for the rest of the season, which saw Los Che finish in seventh place and thus qualifying for UEFA Intertoto Cup for next season. Getafe coach Quique Sánchez Flores was subsequently hired as the next permanent head coach.

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  PAR Ángel Amarilla 3 DF  BRA Fábio Aurélio 4 DF  ARG Roberto Ayala 5 DF  ESP Carlos Marchena 6 MF  ESP David Albelda 7 MF  ITA Stefano Fiore 8 MF  ESP Rubén Baraja 9 FW  ITA Bernardo Corradi 10 MF  ESP Miguel Ángel Angulo 11 FW  ITA Marco Di Vaio 12 DF  POR Marco Caneira 13 GK  ESP Andrés Palop 14 MF  ESP Vicente 15 DF  ITA Amedeo Carboni 16 MF  MLI Mohamed Sissoko

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 DF  ESP David Navarro 18 MF  ESP Xisco 19 MF  ESP Francisco Rufete 20 FW  ESP Mista 21 MF  ARG Pablo Aimar 23 DF  ESP Curro Torres 24 DF  ITA Emiliano Moretti 25 GK  FRA Ludovic Butelle 30 DF  ESP Hector Pilán 31 MF  FRA Nicolas Karlamoff 33 FW  ESP Gio 34 MF  ESP Juanlu 35 MF  ESP Miguel Pallardó 36 DF  ESP Santacruz 37 DF  ESP Manuel Ruz

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 2 DF  ARG Mauricio Pellegrino (to Liverpool) 22 MF  URU Gonzalo de los Santos (on loan to Mallorca)

No. Pos. Nation Player 32 MF  ESP David Silva (on loan to Eibar)

Porto v Valencia

27 August 2004	Porto	1–2	Valencia	Stade Louis II, Monaco
20:45 CEST	Quaresma 78'	Report 1 Report 2 [2][3]	Baraja 32' Di Vaio 67'	Attendance: 17,292 Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway)

Valencia v Anderlecht

14 September 2004	Valencia	2–0	Anderlecht	Mestalla, Valencia
20:45	Vicente 16' Baraja 45'	Report		Attendance: 39,000 Referee: Bertrand Layec (France)

Werder Bremen v Valencia

29 September 2004	Werder Bremen	2–1	Valencia	Weserstadion, Bremen
20:45	Klose 60' Charisteas 84'	Report	Vicente 2'	Referee: Mike Riley (England)

Valencia v Internazionale

20 October 2004	Valencia	1–5	Internazionale	Mestalla, Valencia
20:45	Aimar 73'	Report	Stanković 47' Vieri 49' Van der Meyde 76' Adriano 81' Cruz 90+1'	Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)

Internazionale v Valencia

2 November 2004	Internazionale	0–0	Valencia	San Siro, Milan
20:45		Report		Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Valentin Ivanov (Russia)

Anderlecht v Valencia

24 November 2004	Anderlecht	1–2	Valencia	Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels
20:45	Wilhelmsson 24'	Report	Corradi 19' Di Vaio 48'	Attendance: 25,866 Referee: Tom Henning Øvrebø (Norway)

Valencia v Werder Bremen

7 December 2004	Valencia	0–2	Werder Bremen	Mestalla, Valencia
20:45		Report	Valdez 83', 90+2'	Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)

Valencia v Steaua București

16 February 2005	Valencia	2–0	Steaua București	Mestalla, Valencia
21:30 (CET)	Di Vaio 39' Aimar 55'	Report		Referee: Domenico Messina (Italy)

Steaua București v Valencia

24 February 2005	Steaua București	2–0 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Valencia	Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest
19:00 (CET)	Cristea 50', 71'	Report		Referee: Johan Verbist (Belgium)
	Penalties
	Rădoi Munteanu Lovin Boștină Dică		Aimar Mista Rufete Baraja Di Vaio

2–2 on aggregate, Steaua București won 4–3 on penalty shootout.