_2018_Sports_Festival_-_meciul_amintirilor._(52810598359)_(cropped).jpg) Gabri in 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gabriel Francisco García de la Torre[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1979-02-10)10 February 1979 (age 46)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sallent, Spain[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Atlètic Lleida (manager) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1991 | Sallent | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1993 | Sabadell | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1997 | Barcelona | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2000 | Barcelona B | 67 | (9) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2006 | Barcelona | 129 | (7) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2010 | Ajax | 86 | (7) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Umm Salal | 13 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Sion II | 2 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Sion | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Lausanne-Sport | 28 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 330 | (28) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | Spain U16 | 8 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1998 | Spain U18 | 10 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | Spain U20 | 7 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2001 | Spain U21 | 17 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Spain U23 | 6 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Spain | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2006 | Catalonia | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Barcelona B (assistant) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Barcelona (youth) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Sion | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Andorra | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Olot | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Lleida Esportiu | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Sabadell | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Nantong Zhiyun | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Guangxi Pingguo Haliao | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Atlètic Lleida | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
Gabriel Francisco García de la Torre (born 10 February 1979), known asGabri, is a Spanish formerfootballer, currentlymanager ofCE Atlètic Lleida. Mainly amidfielder who could play in the right orthe middle, he could also appear as an attackingright-back.
He spent seven years of his professional career withBarcelona (13 counting youth teams), winning four major titles but almost exclusively as a backup, totalling 194 games and 13 goals. He also played four seasons withAjax.
Gabri representedSpain atEuro 2004. He later managed in the Spanish lower divisions.
Born inSallent,Barcelona,Catalonia, Gabri started his professional career atFC Barcelona'sreserves, where he made his first appearances in the1997–98 season whilst they competed in theSegunda División B. He scored four goals in 28 gamesen route to promotion, including once in a 5–0 home win againstReal Madrid Castilla inthe playoffs.[2]
Gabri was promoted to the main squad for the1999–2000 campaign, making his debut on 8 August in thefirst leg of theSupercopa de España as a 77th-minutesubstitute forPhillip Cocu in the 1–0 loss atValencia CF (4–3 aggregate defeat). Two weeks later, on hisLa Liga bow, he came off the bench in a 2–0 victory overReal Zaragoza at theCamp Nou in the season opener.[3] On 27 October, he played a full match for the first time and scored his first goal in a 5–0 home defeat ofAIK Fotboll in thefirst group stage of theUEFA Champions League;[4] he totalled a career-best six goals in this first season, including three more againstHertha BSC andAC Sparta Prague in the next part of the competition.[5][6]
Over the next three years, Gabri was a regular. He featured less in the2004–05 and2005–06 seasons in which he won his only Barcelona honours underFrank Rijkaard (two leagues, one Supercup and the2005–06 UEFA Champions League). On 23 September 2004 he suffered a severeanterior cruciate ligament injury with a prognosis of six months in a 4–1 home win over Zaragoza.[7] While he did not even make the bench for the2006 Champions League final which his team won againstArsenal, he scored to open a 3–1 home victory againstSV Werder Bremen in thegroup phase on 22 November.[8] In his final appearance for the club on 13 May 2006, he wassent off in added time for arguing with theassistant referee.[9]
Gabri's contract at Barcelona was not renewed,[10] and he joinedAFC Ajax on afree transfer on 6 June 2006,[11] alongside former teammateRoger García. There, he immediatelywon theJohan Cruyff Shield in a 3–1 defeat ofPSV Eindhoven in August,[12] and was also a key element in a side thatlost theEredivisie on the last matchday, to the same opposition.
In May 2007, Gabri won theKNVB Cup onpenalties againstAZ Alkmaar, in a match where he received a red card in the 79th minute.[13] In August, Ajax successfullydefended their Supercup title by beating PSV again, with him as the only goalscorer in the match.[14]
On 27 May 2010, after a last poor individualseason with Ajax – only 13 matches, even though theAmsterdam side finished in second place – the 31-year-old Gabri signed forQatar Stars League clubUmm Salal SC.[15] On 4 July of the following year he moved countries again, joiningFC Sion in Switzerland.[16]
On 25 July 2012, having taken almost no part in theSuper Leaguecampaign, Gabri changed teams but stayed in the country, agreeing to a contract atFC Lausanne-Sport.[17]
Gabri was a key element inSpain's squad at the1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, scoring three goals to becomeWorld Champion of the category.[18] He was also a member of thenational team at the2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.[19]
After making hisfull debut on 30 April 2003 in afriendly withEcuador,[20] Gabri went on to represent the nation atUEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal,[21][22] not leavingthe bench in an eventual group-stage exit.
Gabri retired from playing at the age of 35, and immediately returned to Barcelona as assistant totheir reserves.[23] In July 2015, as part of a reshuffle by incoming directorJosé Segura, he changed roles within the club, becoming the coach of theJuvenil A.[24]
On 24 October 2017, Gabri was appointed manager at Sion until June 2019, succeedingPaolo Tramezzani.[25] His debut in senior management came five days later in a 5–1 defeat atBSC Young Boys.[26] He won once and lost six times in eight games as the team dropped from seventh to bottom tenth, before being replaced byMaurizio Jacobacci on 7 February.[27]
At the end of December 2018, Gabri signed withFC Andorra with former Barcelona teammateAlbert Jorquera as his assistant, followingGerard Piqué's acquisition of theprincipality-based club inCatalan regional football.[28] They won thePrimera Catalana in his first season, achieving a double promotion after buying the place of economically troubledCF Reus Deportiu.[29] On 24 February 2020, after three consecutive losses and seven matches without a win, he was dismissed.[30]
Remaining in the third tier, Gabri managedUE Olot from January to April 2021, leaving by mutual consent.[31] On 1 June that year, he signed forLleida Esportiu for the next three seasons;[32] he stayed for only one year in theSegunda Federación, in which the side lost in the first round of theplayoffs after a goalless draw withseededSestao River Club.[33]
Gabri replacedPedro Munitis at the helm ofCE Sabadell FC ofPrimera Federación in July 2022.[34] The team had a sharp drop in budget and mostly relied on youth, with him fielding 27 players in 17 games, losing nine; he was dismissed on 19 December while lying two points inside the relegation zone.[35]
On 16 June 2023, Gabri was appointed manager atChinese Super League'sNantong Zhiyun F.C. for the remainder ofthe season.[36] He resigned on 25 September,[37] subsequently signing forGuangxi Pingguo Haliao F.C. also in the country but inLeague One.[38]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Sion | 25 October 2017 | 5 February 2018 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 22 | −10 | 012.50 | [40] |
| FC Andorra | 30 December 2018 | 25 February 2020 | 46 | 24 | 15 | 7 | 69 | 38 | +31 | 052.17 | [41] |
| Olot | 26 January 2021 | 25 April 2021 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 14 | −3 | 033.33 | [42] |
| Lleida Esportiu | 1 June 2021 | 22 May 2022 | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 42 | 39 | +3 | 044.74 | [43] |
| Sabadell | 12 July 2022 | 19 December 2022 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 18 | 26 | −8 | 029.41 | [44] |
| Nantong Zhiyun | 16 June 2023 | 25 September 2023 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 24 | −6 | 017.65 | [45] |
| Guangxi Pingguo Haliao | 5 December 2023 | 2 April 2024 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 050.00 | [46] |
| Atlètic Lleida | 8 July 2024 | Present | 53 | 22 | 17 | 14 | 90 | 61 | +29 | 041.51 | [47] |
| Total | 195 | 78 | 54 | 63 | 264 | 226 | +38 | 040.00 | — | ||
Barcelona
Ajax
Spain U20
Spain U23
Spain squads | |||||||
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