Born in Tàrrega, Lleida, Catalonia, and a product of Espanyol's youth system, Capdevila started playing football as a forward,[4] and he made his debut for its first team during the 1998–99 season in a 2–2 La Liga draw at Athletic Bilbao.

After the Colchoneros' relegation, Capdevila signed with Deportivo de La Coruña in the summer of 2000, and would be a regular fixture in the team as left-back, first competing with Enrique Romero then as the undisputed first choice.

He did finish the campaign with more than 40 official appearances, including nine in Villarreal's Europa League semi-final run, where he scored in a 3–2 home victory over eventual winners Porto (7–4 aggregate loss).

[11] On 20 August, he made his official debut in a 3–1 Primeira Liga defeat of Feirense at the Estádio da Luz,[12][13] but was not included in the squad for the group stages of the Champions League,[14] which prompted rumours that he would seek to leave in the January transfer window.

[17] However, during the final stages of the season, Jesus gave Capdevila a long run as a starter, and he made his Champions League debut for the Lisbon club on 4 April 2012, playing the second leg of the quarter-finals against Chelsea, a 2–1 loss at Stamford Bridge (3–1 on aggregate).

During the tournament he established himself as first choice, his clearance in the dying seconds against Sweden being a crucial part of David Villa's late winner to make the score 2–1; together with right-back Sergio Ramos and central defenders Carles Puyol and Carlos Marchena, he helped keep clean sheets during all three matches of the knock-out stages.

[38] On 20 May 2010, after appearing in all the fixtures during the qualifying stages, contributing one goal in Spain's 4–0 home defeat of Armenia, Capdevila was selected by manager Vicente del Bosque to the squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where he played all the games and minutes for the eventual champions, being the only member of the starting line-up for the final who was not a Real Madrid or FC Barcelona player, considering Villa had been signed by the latter days before the tournament.

[40] An offensive–minded left-sided full-back or wing-back, Capdevila was known for his speed and passing ability, which enabled him to get forward, make overlapping runs, provide width to his team and link-up with the attack.