Óscar García Junyent, known simply as Óscar as a player, is a Spanish retired footballer, and the manager of RC Celta de Vigo. He was a versatile attacking option as a player, able to feature as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. He spent most of his 14-year professional career with Barcelona, with relative impact, appearing for four other clubs. In La Liga, Óscar amassed totals of 169 matches and 31 goals over 12 seasons, also representing Espanyol, Albacete, Lleida and Valencia. He started working as a manager in 2009, winning league titles in Israel and Austria.
Playing career
Club
Born in Sabadell, Barcelona, Catalonia, Óscar made his professional debut with FC Barcelona, his local team. Between 1992 and 1994 he played in five La Liga matches for Barça who were champions each year and, after a loan at fellow top division club Albacete Balompié, he returned and was often used in a variety of offensive roles: during the 1995–96 season he scored ten league goals, the most in the squad, even though he only started 11 of his 28 appearances; the team came out empty in silverware, however. With his role gradually diminishing, Óscar joined Valencia CF for one season, finishing off with Barcelona neighbours RCD Espanyol and UE Lleida and retiring in June 2005 at the age of 32. On 7 January 2001, whilst playing for the second club against CD Numancia, he was taken to hospital after swallowing his tongue; in the following summer, he nearly signed for West Ham United, but an eventual deal fell through after a one week's trial and he returned to Espanyol, with whom he never scored more than one goal per season, during four years.
In late 2009, Óscar joined former Barcelona coach Johan Cruyff's coaching staff in the Catalonia national team, as the Dutchman had just been appointed. On 22 May 2012 he had his first head coach appointment, signing a two-year contract with Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv FC. Exactly one year later, after leading the club to the national championship after a ten-year drought, he resigned from his post, citing personal reasons. On 26 June 2013, Óscar was unveiled as the new head coach of Football League Championship club Brighton & Hove Albion. His first win came on 17 August, 1–0 at Birmingham City. On 12 May 2014, following Brighton's play off semi-final defeat to Derby County, his offer of resignation was accepted by the board. On 2 June 2014, Óscar returned to Maccabi by signing a two-year contract, but left the club on 26 August due to political tensions. A week later he was appointed at Watford, replacing Giuseppe Sannino. Óscar was admitted to hospital with minor chest pains on 15 September 2014, forcing him to miss Watford's upcoming match with Blackpool. These health problems eventually led to him stepping down, two weeks later. On 28 December 2015, Austrian double holders FC Red Bull Salzburg hired Óscar following the dismissal of Peter Zeidler. His team, for which fellow Spaniard Jonathan Soriano was the main striker, ended the season as national champions; on 19 May the latter scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 cup final win over FC Admira Wacker Mödling to seal a double. On 15 June 2017, after being snubbed by Patrick Vieira who preferred to stay at New York City FC, AS Saint-Étienne signed Óscar to a two-year contract. In November, however, following a 0–5 home loss against Olympique Lyonnais, he left the club by mutual agreement. On 5 January 2018, Olympiacos F.C. announced Óscar as their new manager. His contract was terminated by mutual consent on 3 April, following a 1–1 away draw to Levadiakos FC; the team had also been eliminated from the Greek Cup for a third consecutive year, and he was held partially responsible for the lack of dressing-room, training and match discipline. Óscar had his first head coach experience in Spain in November 2019, when he took over for Fran Escribá at RC Celta de Vigo who stood third from the bottom in the standings. His team stayed up on the last day of the season, as CD Leganés could not win their fixture.
Personal life
Óscar's brothers, Roger and Genís, were also footballers. All youth products of Barcelona, they had however different fates as professionals. On 17 June1997, during the final of the Copa Catalunya, all three appeared with the first team in a 1–3 loss to CE Europa.
