Víctor Ruiz (footballer, born 1989)

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ruiz and the second or maternal family name is Torre.

Víctor Ruiz Torre (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbiɣtoɾ ˈrwiθ ˈtore]; born 25 January 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back.

Víctor Ruiz

Ruiz being presented by Napoli in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Víctor Ruiz Torre[1]
Date of birth	(1989-01-25) 25 January 1989 (age 35)[1]
Place of birth	Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
1998–2002	Barcelona
2002–2006	Cornellà
2006–2008	Espanyol
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2010	Espanyol B	44	(0)
2009–2011	Espanyol	37	(2)
2011	Napoli	6	(0)
2011–2015	Valencia	59	(1)
2014–2015	→ Villarreal (loan)	25	(0)
2015–2019	Villarreal	112	(3)
2019–2020	Beşiktaş	23	(0)
2020–2023	Betis	55	(2)
2023–2024	Espanyol	15	(0)
International career
2006	Spain U17	1	(0)
2007–2008	Spain U19	3	(0)
2010–2011	Spain U21	5	(0)
2012	Spain U23	1	(0)
2010	Catalonia	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 June 2024

Club career

Espanyol

Born in Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalonia, Ruiz arrived in RCD Espanyol's youth system in 2006 at the age of 17, from neighbouring UE Cornellà.^[2] In the 2008–09 season he made his senior debut, helping the reserve side to win their Tercera División group and subsequently promote in the playoffs.^[3][4]

Ruiz made his debut with the first team on 6 December 2009, starting and being booked in a 4–0 home loss against Racing de Santander.^[5] Coach Mauricio Pochettino fielded him in a further 21 La Liga games that campaign, with the team finally finishing 11th; he added two goals, against Málaga CF (2–1 away defeat)^[6] and Atlético Madrid (3–0, home).^[7]

Napoli and Valencia

In 2010–11, Ruiz played all the minutes for Espanyol in the first 15 rounds.^[8] On 31 January 2011, he was sold to SSC Napoli for €6 million cash in a four-and-a-half-year contract, with the Italians also ceding the sporting rights to Jesús Dátolo who was playing with the Spaniards on loan.^[9][10]

Ruiz returned to his country on 30 August 2011, after signing a five-year deal with Valencia CF for €8 million.^[11][12] He made his official debut on 10 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 home victory over Atlético Madrid.^[13]

On 12 December 2013, Ruiz was sent off in a 1–1 home draw against FC Kuban Krasnodar in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, for a professional foul on Djibril Cissé.^[14]

Villarreal

On 1 July 2015, following a one-year loan there, Ruiz transferred to Villarreal CF also in the Valencian Community for an initial €2.7 million, potentially rising to €3 million.^[15] He played his first competitive match for them in his second spell on 23 August, when he started and finished the 1–1 draw at Real Betis.^[16]

Ruiz scored his first league goal for Villarreal on 7 April 2017, in a 3–1 home defeat of Athletic Bilbao where he also received his marching orders after a straight red card with 15 minutes left.^[17]

Beşiktaş and Betis

On 7 August 2019, Ruiz joined Beşiktaş J.K. on a three-year contract.^[18] He returned to the Spanish top flight one year later, however, with the free agent signing a one-year deal with Betis.^[19]

Ruiz agreed to an extension until 2023 at the Estadio Benito Villamarín on 4 June 2021;^[20] at its conclusion, he left.^[21] In between, he won the 2021–22 edition of the Copa del Rey for his first major honour,^[22] but contributed only three matches to this feat.^[23]

Return to Espanyol

On 20 September 2023, Ruiz returned to his first professional club Espanyol on a one-year deal.^[24]

International career

Shortly after making his debut with Espanyol, Ruiz was called to the Spain under-21 team by manager Luis Milla. On 8 February 2011, in the last minutes of a 2–1 friendly win over Denmark, he was sent off for punching Nicki Bille, who celebrated his goal in front of Ruiz's face.^[25][26]

Career statistics

As of match played 20 May 2024^[27][28]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Espanyol	2009–10	La Liga	22	2	0	0	—		22	2
	2010–11	La Liga	15	0	3	0	—		18	0
	Total		37	2	3	0	0	0	40	2
Napoli	2010–11	Serie A	6	0	0	0	1[a]	0	7	0
Valencia	2011–12	La Liga	22	0	7	1	8[b]	1	37	2
	2012–13	La Liga	26	0	5	0	2[c]	0	33	0
	2013–14	La Liga	11	1	1	0	7[a]	0	19	1
	Total		59	1	13	1	17	1	89	3
Villarreal (loan)	2014–15	La Liga	25	0	3	0	8[a]	0	36	0
Villarreal	2015–16	La Liga	35	0	2	0	14[a]	0	51	0
	2016–17	La Liga	28	1	2	0	6[d]	0	36	1
	2017–18	La Liga	27	2	2	0	5[a]	0	34	2
	2018–19	La Liga	22	0	1	0	10[a]	0	33	0
	Total		137	3	10	0	43	0	190	3
Beşiktaş	2019–20	Süper Lig	23	0	2	0	1[a]	0	26	0
Betis	2020–21	La Liga	27	2	4	0	—		31	2
	2021–22	La Liga	18	0	3	0	2[a]	0	23	0
	2022–23	La Liga	10	0	1	0	3[a]	0	14	0
	Total		55	2	8	0	5	0	68	2
Espanyol	2023–24	Segunda División	15	0	0	0	1[e]	0	16	0
Career total			332	8	36	1	68	1	436	10

1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
2. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
4. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearance in La Liga play-offs

Honours

Espanyol B

• Tercera División: 2008–09

Betis

• Copa del Rey: 2021–22^[22]

Spain U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2011^[29]

Individual

• UEFA La Liga Team of the Season: 2015–16^[30]

References

1. "Víctor Ruiz". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 July 2022.
2. Terrats, Juan (25 August 2010). "Víctor Ruiz confirma que se queda en el Espanyol" [Víctor Ruiz confirms he is staying at Espanyol]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 September 2023.
3. "El Espanyol B ya es campeón de Tercera" [Espanyol B are already Tercera champions]. Sport (in Spanish). 4 May 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
4. "Gimnástica y Espanyol B son ya equipos de Segunda B" [Gimnástica and Espanyol B are already Segunda B teams]. Marca (in Spanish). 31 May 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
5. Quixano, Jordi (6 December 2009). "El Espanyol es un juguete roto" [Espanyol are a broken toy]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
6. "Espanyol continue away day blues". ESPN Soccernet. 21 February 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
7. "Espanyol boost survival hopes". ESPN Soccernet. 11 April 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
8. Beldarrain, Andoni (28 January 2011). "Mercado de invierno: El Sevilla se refuerza y el Espanyol se debilita" [Winter market: Sevilla strengthen and Espanyol weaken] (in Spanish). EITB. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
9. "Napoli sign Ruiz from Espanyol". UEFA. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
10. SSC Napoli SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2011, PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA (in Italian)
11. "Valencia complete deal for Ruiz". ESPN Soccernet. 30 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
12. SSC Napoli SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2012, PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA (in Italian)
13. Egea, Pablo (11 September 2011). "Soldado arma al Valencia" [Soldier ("Soldado" in English) arms Valencia]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
14. "Europa League: Kuban Krasnodar crash out despite 1–1 draw at Valencia". Sky Sports. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
15. Conn, Tom (1 July 2015). "Villarreal finalise transfer for Victor Ruiz". Inside Spanish Football. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
16. Melero, Delfín (24 August 2015). "Rubén Castro llega justo a tiempo" [Rubén Castro arrives just in time]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
17. "El Villarreal frena las aspiraciones del Athletic" [Villarreal halt Athletic's aspirations]. Deia (in Spanish). 7 April 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
18. "El Villarreal traspasa a Víctor Ruiz al Besiktas" [Villarreal transfer Víctor Ruiz to Besiktas]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
19. "Víctor Ruiz, nuevo jugador del Real Betis" [Víctor Ruiz, new player of Real Betis] (in Spanish). Real Betis. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
20. "Víctor Ruiz extends his contract with Real Betis". Real Betis. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
21. "Víctor Ruiz leaves Real Betis". Real Betis. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
22. "Real Betis 1–1 Valencia (5–4 on pens): Real Betis win Copa del Rey final on penalties". BBC Sport. 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
23. Del Castillo, Alfonso (9 August 2022). "Los jugadores de la 2021–22 en la clasificación histórica" [The 2021–22 players in the historical ranking.] (in Spanish). Manquepierda. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
24. "Víctor Ruiz rejoins RCD Espanyol". RCD Espanyol. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
25. "Ten-man Spain defeat hosts Denmark". UEFA. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
26. "International Matches – Under 21". Soccer Spain. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
27. "Víctor Ruiz". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
28. Víctor Ruiz at FBref.com
29. Rodrigálvarez, Eduardo (26 June 2011). "España tiene futuro" [Spain have a future]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
30. Casal, Rafa (16 May 2016). "Atletico dominate UEFA's La Liga team of the season". Marca. Retrieved 30 September 2017.

External links

• Víctor Ruiz at BDFutbol
• CiberChe biography and stats (in Spanish)