The remedy for Espanyol's ills was at home

BarcelonaIn one of his first interventions as Espanyol coach, Eder Sarabia wanted to publicly thank Sergio García for last Friday's victory in Vila-real. And he did so without anyone asking him directly about him: “It's not just because of the result, but because of the feelings the team conveyed. Now there is a different energy, people are smiling more... and that way it is easier to start working”.

Espanyol coach for a day

With just a couple of training sessions, Sergio García was able to lift the spirits of a squad that had come from a defeat on a Segunda RFEF pitch, in Manolo González's last chapter on the bench, and to win with solvency and good football against a Champions League rival. Furthermore, he did it with a very young team trained at home, at La21. The coach of the 'periquito' reserve team, a former Espanyol player, was entrusted with the reins of the first team for a day and was granted “total freedom”. Despite his interim role, in Villarreal the decisions were made by him, not by Eder Sarabia, who had been announced as the new coach just two days earlier.

Sergio García met with Ramon Ferrer from Osona and the Argentine Pablo Rotchen, his two assistants at the reserve team, whom he met when he was starting to coach at Damm, and all three of them decided that they would not hesitate to give prominence to the kids from Espanyol B. Four of them were called up, while Urko González, Clemens Riedel, and Álex Calatrava, the most expensive signing of the summer, stayed behind in Barcelona.

They were perfectly aware of the risk they were taking, but they were more than convinced of what they were doing. Alejandro Santiago, who is 19 years old and who just two years ago was playing at the Escola de Futbol Gavà, was a starter. In the second half, he was replaced by Jan Peries from Balaguer, who was also a youth player last season. This year, both are shining in the blue and white reserve team, and last Friday they made their debut with Espanyol's first team, with a great performance. Full-back José Ángel, who had already debuted under Manolo González, also played a few minutes.

Sergio García's "sixth sense"

“Sergio has a sixth sense for detecting precocious talent and isn't afraid to take risks. He is very brave. At Damm, he moved Pol Rivera up from the U-19 C team to the U-19 A team... and he ended up signing him for Madrid. And with the Spanish national team, he took Polli to the U-17 European Championship, even though he was a year younger than most,” say those who know him best. Pol Rivera now plays for Espanyol B and Polli is the great pearl of the blue-and-white youth academy: he is a first-year youth player, but is part of the reserve team of a Sergio García who, in Villarreal, also made his debut as a first-team coach.

Sergio García began his training as a coach at Damm in 2021, shortly after hanging up his boots. He stood out at the helm of the U-19 A team and made the leap to the youth categories of the Spanish national team, before returning to the parakeet club last summer to take the reins of the reserve team. Espanyol B is one of the sensations of group 2 of the Segunda RFEF: with one game less, it is the highest-scoring team and is only three points behind Barça Atlètic, the leader of the category.

An inexhaustible talent factory

In addition to Alejandro Santiago, Jan Peries and José Ángel, also playing in Vila-real were Àngel Fortuño, Omar El Hilali, Roger Hinojo, Rafel Bauza, Javi Hernández, Pol Lozano and Javi Puado, all of whom came from the youth academy. This means that ten of the 16 footballers trusted by Sergio García at the Ceràmica were trained at the Sant Adrià del Besòs sports city, named after Dani Jarque and which celebrated its 25th anniversary on September 10 of this year 2026.

With the debuts of Santiago and Peries, there are now 111 footballers trained in Sant Adrià who have debuted with the first team in the last quarter of a century. A talent factory that continues to bear fruit and that, in one of Espanyol's most delicate moments, has once again shown that some of the remedies for its ills can be found at home.