_2017-04-26_(032).jpg) Óscar as manager ofRed Bull Salzburg in 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Óscar García Junyent[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1973-04-26)26 April 1973 (age 52)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sabadell, Spain[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Attacking midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980–1984 | Mercantil | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1991 | Barcelona | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1994 | Barcelona B | 79 | (24) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1999 | Barcelona | 69 | (21) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | →Albacete (loan) | 29 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Valencia | 20 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2004 | Espanyol | 51 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Lleida | 23 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 271 | (58) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989 | Spain U16 | 1 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Spain U18 | 4 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Spain U19 | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Spain U20 | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1996 | Spain U21 | 24 | (12) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Spain U23 | 4 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Catalonia (assistant) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Barcelona (youth) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Brighton & Hove Albion | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Watford | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Red Bull Salzburg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Saint-Étienne | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Olympiacos | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Celta | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Reims | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | OH Leuven | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | Guadalajara | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
Óscar García Junyent (born 26 April 1973), known simply asÓscar as a player, is a Spanish professionalfootball manager and formerplayer.
He was a versatile attacking option as a player, able to feature as anattacking midfielder or asecond striker. He spent most of his 14-year professional career withBarcelona, with relative impact, appearing for four other clubs. InLa Liga, he amassed totals of 169 matches and 31 goals over 12 seasons, also representingEspanyol (four years),Albacete,Valencia andLleida (one apiece).
García started working as a manager in 2009, going on to work in eight countries including his own. He won theIsraeli Premier League withMaccabi Tel Aviv and two consecutiveBundesliga andCupdoubles withRed Bull Salzburg.
Born inSabadell,Barcelona,Catalonia, Óscar made his professional debut withBarcelona, his local team. Between 1992 and 1994 he played fiveLa Liga matches forBarça who were champions each year and, after a loan at fellow top-division clubAlbacete, he returned and was often used (with good results) in a variety of attacking roles: during the1995–96 season he scored ten league goals, the most in the squad, even though he only started eleven of his 28 appearances;[2] the team came out empty in silverware, however.
With his role gradually diminishing, Óscar joinedValencia for one season, finishing off with Barcelona neighboursEspanyol (teaming up again with his brotherRoger, for three seasons) andLleida and retiring in June 2005 at the age of 32. On 7 January 2001, whilst playing for the second club againstNumancia, he was taken to hospital after swallowing his tongue.[3]
Óscar nearly signed forWest Ham United in the summer of 2002, but an eventual deal fell through after a one week trial and he returned to Espanyol,[4] with whom he never scored more than one goal per season in four years.
Óscar appeared forSpain at the1996 Summer Olympics inAtlanta, scoring twice for the eventualquarter-finalists.[5][6]
In late 2009, García joined former Barcelona coachJohan Cruyff's coaching staff in theCatalonia national team, as the Dutchman had just been appointed.[7] On 22 May 2012, he received his first head coach appointment, signing a two-year contract withMaccabi Tel Aviv, where Cruyff's sonJordi acted assporting director.[8] Exactly one year later, afterleading the club to theIsraeli Premier League after a ten-year drought,[9] he resigned from his post citing personal reasons.[10]
García was unveiled as the new head coach ofFootball League Championship sideBrighton & Hove Albion on 26 June 2013, replacingGus Poyet.[11] His first win came on 17 August, 1–0 atBirmingham City;[12] he was November'sManager of the Month, with three wins and a draw.[13] On 12 May 2014, following theirplay off semi-final defeat toDerby County, his offer of resignation was accepted by the board.[14]
On 2 June 2014, García returned to Maccabi by signing a two-year contract, but left on 26 August due toongoing war.[15] A week later he was appointed atWatford, replacingGiuseppe Sannino.[16] He was admitted to hospital with minor chest pains on 15 September, forcing him to miss the team's upcoming match withBlackpool.[17][18] These health problems eventually led to him stepping down, two weeks later.[19]
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Austriandouble holdersRed Bull Salzburg hired García on 28 December 2015, following the dismissal ofPeter Zeidler.[20] His team, for which fellow SpaniardJonathan Soriano was the main striker, endedthe season as national champions.[21] On 19 May the latter scored a hat-trick in a 5–0cup final victory overAdmira Wacker to seal another double.[22]
In2016–17, Salzburg retained both major honours. After the loss of Soriano, García built the attack around South KoreanHwang Hee-chan.[23]
On 15 June 2017,Saint-Étienne signed García to a two-year contract.[24][25] In November, however, following a 5–0 home loss againstLyon in theDerby du Rhone, he left the club by mutual agreement.[26][27]
Olympiacos announced García as their new manager on 5 January 2018, to replaceTakis Lemonis.[28] His contract was terminated by mutual consent on 3 April, following a 1–1 away draw withLevadiakos; the side had also beeneliminated from theGreek Cup for a third consecutive year, and he was held partially responsible for the lack of dressing room, training and match discipline.[29]
García had his first head coach experience in Spain in November 2019, when he took over forFran Escribá atCelta de Vigo, who stood third from the bottom in the standings.[30] His team stayed up on the last day ofthe season, asLeganés could not win their fixture.[31]
On 9 November 2020, after only one win in nine matches ofthe new campaign, García was dismissed.[32]
García returned to the FrenchLigue 1 in June 2021, being appointed atReims on a three-year deal.[33] Starting with a goalless draw atNice on 8 August,[34] he won on his fifth attempt with a 2–0 victory atRennes.[35]
García'sone full season at theStade Auguste-Delaune resulted in a 12th-place finish.[36] He was relieved of his duties on 13 October 2022, with his team 15th in the table, and was replaced by his assistantWill Still.[37]
On 3 November 2023, García was hired atOud-Heverlee Leuven, taking over a club in theBelgian Pro League relegation zone after 12 games.[38] He eventually managed toavoid a drop, with a 1–0 win againstMechelen in injury time.[39]
One year after arriving, with the side again in the bottom part of the table, García was dismissed alongside his staff.[40]
On 2 December 2024,Guadalajara of theLiga MX announced García as their new head coach from January 2025.[41]
García's brothers,Roger andGenís, were also footballers. All youth products of Barcelona, they had however different fates as professionals (especially the latter).[42]
On 17 June 1997, during the final of theCopa Catalunya, all three appeared with the first team in a 3–1 loss toEuropa.[43]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||||
| Maccabi Tel Aviv |  | 22 May 2012 | 22 May 2013 | 43 | 28 | 7 | 8 | 065.12 | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion |  | 26 June 2013 | 12 May 2014 | 53 | 21 | 16 | 16 | 039.62 | ||
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | | 2 June 2014 | 26 August 2014 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 042.86 | ||
| Watford | | 2 September 2014 | 29 September 2014 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 025.00 | ||
| Red Bull Salzburg |  | 28 December 2015 | 15 June 2017 | 73 | 51 | 12 | 10 | 069.86 | ||
| Saint-Étienne |  | 15 June 2017 | 15 November 2017 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 038.46 | ||
| Olympiacos |  | 6 January 2018 | 3 April 2018 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 046.15 | ||
| Celta |  | 9 November 2019 | 9 November 2020 | 38 | 8 | 17 | 13 | 021.05 | ||
| Reims | | 23 June 2021 | 13 October 2022 | 51 | 14 | 19 | 18 | 027.45 | ||
| OH Leuven |  | 3 November 2023 | 22 November 2024 | 44 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 027.27 | ||
| Guadalajara |  | 2 December 2024 | 3 March 2025 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 041.67 | ||
| Total | 352 | 154 | 104 | 94 | 043.75 | |||||
_1015.JPG)
Barcelona
Valencia
Spain U-21
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Red Bull Salzburg
Individual
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