Barcelona's goalkeeper Joan Garcia, top, clears the ball during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between RCD Espanyol and Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick showered praise on goalkeeper Joan Garcia after the side’s 2-0 win over Espanyol. Filck, after the game, acknowledged that his side did not deserve the points if not for the shot stopper’s superb efforts on the night.
“We didn’t deserve it, I will be honest. I have to say thank you to Joan García because he played unbelievably. He’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world,” Flick said (via @BarcaTimes on X). “He is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and we had the players off the bench who showed the quality this team has.”
Flick also credited Espanyol coach Manolo González for having given García the “confidence” to grow last season, when he caught the eye of many top clubs in Europe. “(García)He played fantastic and the clean sheet today was his responsibility.”
Fermín López assisted two late goals for a 2-0 victory in a heated Catalan derby. Fermín assisted fellow substitutes Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski in the 86th and 90th minutes to tilt the match in favour of the La Liga leaders.
But the credit for the win went to García, who made superb saves to frustrate an Espanyol attack that dominated all but the final period. The final score hid a superb effort by fifth-placed Espanyol. Pere Milla and Roberto Fernández drew save after save from García, who was playing his first game at Espanyol since he left the “parakeets” last summer for its top rival. His highlight came in the 39th when García used a reflex one-hand save to paw a point-blank header by Milla over his crossbar.
Olmo broke through for Barcelona when he used one smooth touch to lob a pass by Fermín over Espanyol goalie Marko Dimitrovic. Fermín then followed that by dribbling past his marker inside the right side of the box before laying off for Lewandowski to finish off Espanyol. Before that late burst by Barcelona, the action had mostly been in García’s box where he made three stops to turn back Roberto in the second half.
The loss broke a run of five straight victories by Espanyol, its best winning run since the 1998-99 season.
Curated by James Chen
