Editing Roberto Ayala (section)

== Club career ==

=== Early career in Argentina ===
Ayala began his career in his native Argentina, playing for [[Ferro Carril Oeste]]. After three seasons, he moved to [[Club Atlético River Plate|River Plate]] where his good form attracted the attention of clubs in Europe.

=== Move to Europe ===

==== Parma, Napoli and Milan ====
Italian side [[Parma Calcio 1913|Parma]] brought the Argentine defender to Europe. However, the club, having already used their quota of three non-[[European Union|EU]] players, loaned him to [[S.S.C. Napoli|Napoli]], who purchased 50% of his rights on a co-ownership deal. Ayala was bought by [[A.C. Milan|Milan]] at the end of the [[1997–98 Serie A|1997–98 season]] and played there for two seasons until [[Valencia CF|Valencia]] purchased him for [[Pound sterling|£]]6.25&nbsp;million.

==== Valencia ====
After signing with Valencia in the summer of 2000, Ayala made 275 appearances during a seven-year spell at the club.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://en.valenciacf.com/ver/10324/ayala.html|title=Ayala|access-date=12 March 2016|work=Valencia CF}}</ref>

On 24 September 2000, Ayala made his debut for Valencia in a 3–0 [[La Liga]] win over [[CD Numancia|Numancia]].<ref name=years>{{cite news|url=http://en.valenciacf.com/ver/44150/15-years-of-ayalas-debut-with-vcf.html|title=15 years of Ayala's debut with VCF|date=24 September 2015|work=Valencia CF}}</ref> He soon established himself as a first choice central defender for ''Los Che'' and started alongside compatriot [[Mauricio Pellegrino]] in the [[2001 UEFA Champions League Final|2001 UEFA Champions League final]], where Valencia lost 5–4 to [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]] after a [[penalty shoot-out (association football)|penalty shootout]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2001/may/23/minutebyminute.sport|title=Bayern Munich 1 – 1 Valencia|date=24 May 2001|work=The Guardian}}</ref> He was later named [[UEFA Club Football Awards#Best Defender|best defender]] for the [[2000–01 UEFA Champions League|2000–01 tournament]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11946/9877400/champions-league-final-runners-up-xi-the-best-players-never-to-win-it|title=Champions League final runners-up XI: The best players never to win it|date=6 June 2015|publisher=Sky Sports}}</ref>

The following season, Ayala was part of the Valencia team that won the [[2001–02 La Liga]] [[List of Spanish football champions|title]]. He scored the opening goal of a 2–0 defeat of [[Málaga CF|Málaga]] which secured the championship on 5 May 2002.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/mar/11/rafa-benitez-newcastle-united-manager-career|title=Rafa Benítez: 10 key wins in new Newcastle United manager's career|date=12 March 2016|work=The Guardian}}</ref> In 2003–04, Valencia again won the [[2003–04 La Liga|La Liga]] title and beat [[Olympique de Marseille|Marseille]] 2–0 in [[Gothenburg]] to win the [[2003–04 UEFA Cup|UEFA Cup]].<ref name=years/>

During the [[2004–05 La Liga|2004–05 season]], injuries kept Ayala from much of the La Liga campaign as well as the [[2004 UEFA Super Cup|UEFA Super Cup]] victory over [[FC Porto|Porto]].

During his time with Valencia, he was widely regarded as one of the finest central defenders in the world and is considered to be one of the club's all-time legends.<ref name=years/>

==== Villarreal and Real Zaragoza ====
In August 2006, Ayala was not offered a new contract by sporting director [[Amedeo Carboni]]. On 7 February 2007, he announced he would join regional rivals [[Villarreal CF|Villarreal]] at the end of the season, however before having played for Villarreal, he joined [[Real Zaragoza]] on a three-year deal on 14 July 2007.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.realzaragoza.com/r2z/paginas/noticias.php?id=1796 | title = Ayala será jugador del Real Zaragoza | publisher = Real Zaragoza | date = 14 July 2007 | access-date=14 July 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070811122046/http://www.realzaragoza.com/r2z/paginas/noticias.php?id=1796 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 11 August 2007}}</ref> The buy-out clause in his contract with Villarreal was [[Euro|€]]6&nbsp;million (£4.8&nbsp;million) which was paid in full by [[Real Zaragoza]].

On 3 May 2008, Ayala scored his first goal for Real Zaragoza in the 94th minute against [[Deportivo de La Coruña]] to lead Zaragoza to a 1–0 victory.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/news/kind=1/newsid=561931.html?cid=rssfeed&att=index | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090108130527/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/news/kind=1/newsid=561931.html?cid=rssfeed&att=index | url-status = dead | archive-date = 8 January 2009 | title = Zaragoza put an end to Ayala saga | publisher = UEFA | date = 17 July 2006 | access-date=17 July 2007 }}</ref> Zaragoza, however, were relegated to the [[Segunda División]]. On 22 November 2008, Ayala scored his second goal for Zaragoza, in the 73rd of a 3–0 win over [[SD Eibar|Eibar]]. On 29 February 2009, he scored his third goal coming in the 54th minute against [[Real Murcia]] as Zaragoza won the match 4–1.

In January 2010, Ayala's contract with Zaragoza was terminated by mutual consent.

=== Racing Avellaneda ===
On 2 February 2010, Argentine side [[Racing Club de Avellaneda|Racing Club]] signed Ayala on a free transfer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cooperativa.cl/roberto-ayala-llego-a-argentina-para-incorporarse-a-racing-club/prontus_nots/2010-02-02/144611.html|title=Roberto Ayala llegó a Argentina para incorporarse a Racing Club}}</ref>