Oscar Garcia, Spanish coach who has worked in 8 countries

• Oscar Garcia has coached in eight different countries since he retired in 2009
• His best team as a coach was Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel
• He lost his daughter to cancer in 2022

Barcelona’s history has a special place for Spanish footballer Oscar Garcia Junyent. He is among the most successful Spanish footballers of his time as a midfielder.

His whole life revolves around football. Born on April 26, 1972, in Sabadell, Spain, the 52-year-old has achieved many of his football dreams in life. He started playing football as a teenager for Mercantil from 1980 to 1984 before leaving for Barcelona’s youth team from 1984 to 1991.

Garcia later spent his most memorable 9 seasons with Barcelona playing as an attacking midfielder in the first team between 1991 and 1995 before leaving for Albacete on loan until 1999.

He left Camp Nou for Valencia, where he played until 2000 and headed to Espanyol for four seasons (2000 – 2004). His last stint as a professional footballer was with Lleida for one season, 2004 – 2005, and then he retired.

Oscar Garcia Profile

Guadalajara coach Oscar Garcia. Photo/RC Celta

Here’s a summary of his profile.

Oscar Garcia Teams Coached

Oscar Garcia turned to football coaching after retiring as an active footballer in 2009. He started his new career path as an assistant coach for Catalonia (2009 – 2010) and then moved to Barcelona Youth Academy as the head coach between 2010 and 2012.

Garcia set his football career beyond Spain after his two-year stint at the Barcelona Youth Academy, with another one-year stint at Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.

Tel Aviv opened a new chapter in his life after winning the Israeli Premier League. However, he declined to stay with the club after serving his first season and winning big.

Retired footballer turned coach Oscar Garcia (l) at a past event. Photo/Stade de Reims)

He cast his net wider in England, where he landed a similar role as a coach in 2013 for Brighton and Hove Albion, where he coached until 2014 and returned to Macabi Tel Aviv for a short while.

Oscar Garcia describes his return to Tel Aviv in the 2014 season as a ‘spontaneous move.’ However, it did not last due to war that forced him to terminate his two-year contract with the club. He left the Israeli club for Watford in England, where he coached for the remainder of the 2014 season.

Red Bull Salzburg hired him in 2015, and he succeeded in building a formidable squad whose attacks left opponents at a loss during matches.

His Salzburg retained two major honours during Garcia’s stint, a record he proudly looks back at. In 2017, he signed a two-year contract with Saint-Étienne, but he left after one season in ‘mutual agreement.’

On January 5, 2018, Greek side Olympiacos hired Garcia to coach the team for two years, but this was his worst club to coach. The team lacked discipline, proper training and a dressing which pundits suggest that he should have pushed for as a coach.

His two-year contract with the team ended after 16 months on mutual agreement, allowing him to move back home and coach Celta in 2019. Garcia spent one season with the team and left for Reims (2021- 2022), OH Leuven (2023 -2024).

Garcia is currently the head coach of Guadalajara. Here is a breakdown of his football career as a coach.

• Catalonia (assistant coach) – 2009–2010
• Barcelona youth academy – 2010–2012
• Maccabi Tel Aviv – 2012–2013
• Brighton & Hove Albion – 2013–2014
• Maccabi Tel Aviv – 2014
• Watford – 2014
• Red Bull Salzburg – 2015–2017
• Saint-Étienne – 2017
• Olympiacos – 2018
• Celta – 2019–2020
• Reims – 2021–2022
• OH Leuven – 2023–2024
• Guadalajara – 2025

Oscar Garcia Daughter

Oscar Garcia lost his eldest daughter, Mariona, in 2022. She was 21 years old. He said that she had battled illness for eight years but lost the battle to cancer. He was left with his two other daughters.

The loss devastated his family, but he said that it was God’s will for her to transit to the other world at 21.