Eric Garcia is becoming more and more important for La Roja and Luis Enrique with each passing game according to Marca. He came off the bench against Sweden and didn’t play against Poland, but started against Slovakia and changed his luck.
He started again against Croatia in the last 16, receiving an effusive hug from Luis Enrique when he was substituted toward the end of the game for Pau Torres. It’s a different situation to the one he’d been living all season at Manchester City, who he’s just left for Barcelona. Garcia played five games this calendar year under Pep Guardiola, three in the league and two in the cup.
Garcia has now played as many games under Luis Enrique this year as he has under Guardiola, racking up 360 minutes under the latter and a total of 409 under the former. Garcia has played three qualifying games for the 2022 World Cup to compliment his appearances at Euro 2020; against Greece, Georgia and Kosovo.