"The best thing about Barcelona is being Espanyol". That phrase, recalled by Espanyol in the communiqué announcing his arrival, belongs to the Oviedo-born Luis Garcia, their brand new coach who, years ago, demonstrated in this way, his "periquito" sentiment.
It is obviously not only that, which has motivated the Barcelona team to bet on him. His charisma, his leadership in the dressing room as a player, and his good work as a coach, both in a team linked to Real Madrid, the RSC Internacional, and his three previous seasons in the Damm youth team, have been the arguments that have brought him back to Cornella-El Prat.
Luis Garcia defended the Blue and Whites' shirt from the 2004-2005 season until the start of the 2011-2012 campaign. In total, 262 games (LaLiga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup and UEL) and 60 goals.
The new Espanyolista coach was proclaimed Copa del Rey champion in 2006 in the memorable final against R. Zaragoza (4-1) at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium and a year later he cried with all the Espanyol faithful after losing the final of the Europa League. In addition, Garcia earned a full international cap with the Spanish national team.
The new coach will be presented this Tuesday at the Juan Segura Palomares auditorium, after the first team's training session at the CE Dani Jarque. His debut will take place this Saturday against Athletic Bilbao.
