Víctor Ruiz Torre (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbiktoɾ ˈrwiθ ˈtore]; born 25 January 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Real Betis as a centre-back.
![]() 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 33)[1] | ||
Place of birth | Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain | ||
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Betis | ||
Number | 6 | ||
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– | Betis | 45 | (2) |
National team | |||
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 12:03, 29 July 2022 (UTC) |
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. 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.
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.[2] Coach Mauricio Pochettino fielded him in a further 21 La Liga games that campaign, with the team finally ranking in 11th position; he added two goals, against Málaga CF (2–1 away defeat)[3] and Atlético Madrid (3–0, home).[4]
In 2010–11, Ruiz played all the minutes for Espanyol in the first 15 rounds.[5] On 31 January 2011, he was sold to S.S.C. 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.[6][7]
Ruiz returned to his country on 30 August 2011, after signing a five-year deal with Valencia CF for €8 million.[8][9] He made his official debut on 10 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 home victory over Atlético Madrid.[10]
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.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13]
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.[14]
On 7 August 2019, Ruiz joined Beşiktaş J.K. on a three-year contract.[15] He returned to the Spanish top flight one year later, however, with the free agent signing a one-year deal with Betis.[16]
Ruiz agreed to an extension until 2023 at the Estadio Benito Villamarín on 4 June 2021.[17]
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.[18][19]
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 | 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[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 7 | 0 |
Valencia | 2011–12 | La Liga | 22 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 8[lower-alpha 2] | 1 | 37 | 2 |
2012–13 | 26 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||
2013–14 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 19 | 1 | ||
Total | 59 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 89 | 3 | ||
Villarreal (loan) | 2014–15 | La Liga | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 36 | 0 |
Villarreal | 2015–16 | La Liga | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 51 | 0 |
2016–17 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 36 | 1 | ||
2017–18 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 34 | 2 | ||
2018–19 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||
Total | 137 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 190 | 3 | ||
Beşiktaş | 2019–20 | Süper Lig | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 26 | 0 |
Betis | 2020–21 | La Liga | 27 | 2 | 4 | 0 | – | 31 | 2 | |
2021–22 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||
Total | 42 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 2 | ||
Career total | 304 | 8 | 35 | 1 | 64 | 1 | 403 | 10 |
Espanyol B
Betis
Spain U21
Individual
Real Betis – current squad | |
---|---|