Óscar García Junyent (born 26 April 1973), known simply as Óscar as a player, is a Spanish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, currently a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He was a versatile attacking option as a player, able to feature as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or a

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

. He spent most of his 14-year professional career with

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, with relative impact, appearing for four other clubs. In

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, he amassed totals of 169 matches and 31 goals over 12 seasons, also representing Espanyol (four years),

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

(one apiece). García started working as a manager in 2009, going on to work in eight countries including his own. He won the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

with

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

and two consecutive

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

and

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

doubles with Red Bull Salzburg.

Playing career

Club

Born in

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, where it is one of the two capitals, the other being Terrassa. It is located on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona, a ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Óscar made his professional debut with

, his local team. Between 1992 and 1994 he played five

matches for ''Barça'' who were champions each year and, after a loan at fellow top-division club

, he returned and was often used (with good results) in a variety of attacking roles: during the 1995–96 season he scored ten league goals, the most in the squad, even though he only started eleven of his 28 appearances; the team came out empty in silverware, however. With his role gradually diminishing, Óscar joined

for one season, finishing off with Barcelona neighbours Espanyol (teaming up again with his brother

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

, for three seasons) and

and retiring in June 2005 at the age of 32. On 7 January 2001, whilst playing for the second club against Numancia, he was taken to hospital after swallowing his tongue. Óscar nearly signed for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in the summer of 2002, but an eventual deal fell through after a one week trial and he returned to Espanyol, with whom he never scored more than one goal per season in four years.

International

Óscar appeared for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, scoring twice for the eventual quarter-finalists.

Coaching career

Maccabi Tel Aviv and England

In late 2009, García joined former Barcelona coach

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

's coaching staff in the Catalonia national team, as the Dutchman had just been appointed. On 22 May 2012, he received his first head coach appointment, signing a two-year contract with

, where Cruyff's son Jordi acted as

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

. Exactly one year later, after leading the club to the

after a ten-year drought, he resigned from his post citing personal reasons. García was unveiled as the new head coach of

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

side

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

on 26 June 2013, replacing

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer who is the manager of K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his career with s ...

. His first win came on 17 August, 1–0 at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

; he was November's Manager of the Month, with three wins and a draw. On 12 May 2014, following their play off semi-final defeat to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, his offer of resignation was accepted by the board. On 2 June 2014, García returned to Maccabi by signing a two-year contract, but left on 26 August due to ongoing war. A week later he was appointed at

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, replacing Giuseppe Sannino. He was admitted to hospital with minor chest pains on 15 September, forcing him to miss the team's upcoming match with

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. These health problems eventually led to him stepping down, two weeks later.

Red Bull Salzburg

Austrian

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

holders Red Bull Salzburg hired García on 28 December 2015, following the dismissal of Peter Zeidler. His team, for which fellow Spaniard Jonathan Soriano was the main striker, ended the season as national champions. On 19 May the latter scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 cup final victory over

Admira Wacker Admira Wacker is an Austrian professional Association football, football club based in Maria Enzersdorf, a town in the Mödling District of Lower Austria. The team competes in the 2. Liga (Austria), 2. Liga, the second tier of the Football in Au ...

to seal another double. In 2016–17, Salzburg retained both major honours. After the loss of Soriano, García built the attack around South Korean Hwang Hee-chan.

Saint-Étienne

On 15 June 2017,

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

signed García to a two-year contract. In November, however, following a 5–0 home loss against

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

in the Derby du Rhone, he left the club by mutual agreement.

Olympiacos

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

announced García as their new manager on 5 January 2018, to replace

Takis Lemonis Takis Lemonis (; born 13 January 1960) is a Greek professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. Playing career Takis Lemonis played for local club Attikos before playing for Olympiacos F. ...

. His contract was terminated by mutual consent on 3 April, following a 1–1 away draw with

Levadiakos Levadiakos Football Club (officially romanized: ''Levadeiakos'' ) is a Greek professional football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki, forerunner of the Super League, ...

; the side had also been eliminated from the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

for a third consecutive year, and he was held partially responsible for the lack of dressing room, training and match discipline.

Celta

García had his first head coach experience in Spain in November 2019, when he took over for Fran Escribá at

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

, who stood third from the bottom in the standings. His team stayed up on the last day of the season, as

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popu ...

could not win their fixture. On 9 November 2020, after only one win in nine matches of the new campaign, García was dismissed.

Reims

García returned to the French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

in June 2021, being appointed at

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

on a three-year deal. Starting with a goalless draw at

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. García's one full season at the

Stade Auguste-Delaune The Stade Auguste-Delaune () is a multi-use stadium in Reims, France. It is used mostly for football matches and hosts the home matches of Stade Reims. The stadium was a venue for both the 1938 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. ...

resulted in a 12th-place finish. He was relieved of his duties on 13 October 2022, with his team 15th in the table, and was replaced by his assistant

Will Still William Still (born 14 October 1992) is a professional football coach who is the manager of club Southampton. Born in Belgium to English parents, Still played youth and amateur football in Belgium before beginning coaching at age 17. In 2017, ...

OH Leuven

On 3 November 2023, García was hired at

Oud-Heverlee Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian professional football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it i ...

, taking over a club in the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

relegation zone after 12 games. He eventually managed to avoid a drop, with a 1–0 win against

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

in injury time. One year after arriving, with the side again in the bottom part of the table, García was dismissed alongside his staff.

Guadalajara

On 2 December 2024,

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

of the

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

announced García as their new head coach from January 2025.

Personal life

García's brothers,

and Genís, were also footballers. All youth products of Barcelona, they had however different fates as professionals (especially the latter). On 17 June 1997, during the final of the

Copa Catalunya The Copa Catalunya () is a knockout competition organised by the Catalan Football Federation for football clubs in the Catalonia autonomous community of Spain. History Between 1903 and 1940, it was known as the ''Catalan football championship ...

, all three appeared with the first team in a 3–1 loss to

Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Cliffs, Alexan ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Barcelona *

: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99 *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 1996–97, 1997–98 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: 1996–97 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Valencia *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

runner-up: 1999–2000 Spain U-21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

runner-up:

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

; third place

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Manager

Maccabi Tel Aviv *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Red Bull Salzburg *

Austrian Football Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

: 2015–16, 2016–17 *

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for a record 27th time. Wo ...

: 2015–16, 2016–17 Individual * Football League Manager of the Month: November 2013

References

External links