Eric Garcia talks Flick, Lamine, Cubarsi, Inigo, Rashford, Olmo, Fermin, Dro, injuries | OneFootball

Eric Garcia’s journey to finding his place at Barcelona has been anything but straightforward. At just 17, he left La Masia for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City after feeling undervalued.

When he returned, as a free agent in 2021, he faced criticism and eventually chose to go on loan to Girona during the 2023/24 season to rebuild his confidence.

Now, Garcia is an essential part of Hansi Flick’s Barcelona and has been one of the team’s most reliable performers in 2025.

The 24-year-old versatile defender sat down for an extensive interview with SPORT, during which he discussed various topics, including his contract renewal and loan stint with Girona.

On recent losses

Kicking things off, though, Garcia opened up on Barcelona’s back-to-back losses against PSG and Sevilla before the international window, stating that the break arrived at an opportune moment for the team.

“It’s good to disconnect and rest, but I’m already looking forward to playing again,” he admitted.

Reflecting on those defeats, he remained measured in his response, saying: “In the game against PSG, we struggled in the second half, we ran too much after the ball and that always ends up taking its toll, they scored against us in the last minute.

“In Seville, these are things that can happen in football. I think we had two clear chances in the second half, and if they had gone in, we would be talking about another comeback.

“If we look at it objectively, in the 90th minute, we were 2-1 up. There’s no need to dramatise it.”

Barça lost to PSG and Sevilla recently. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Garcia further insisted that there is no cause for alarm despite the losses, noting: “We know what we need to improve, our rivals know us better, and they know what we want to do.

“I’m one of those who thinks that if we perform at the level we should be at, it’s very difficult for a rival to beat us.”

On Flick’s message, high-line tactics

After the draw against Rayo Vallecano in August, manager Hansi Flick had sent a pointed message to the players, saying ‘Egos kill success.’ When asked to elaborate on what the manager meant by that, Eric said:

“I think we’re coming off a season where we won three titles, and feel like we can win again based on what we did last year, but our opponents are improving and know us better.

“I don’t think it’s a direct message to the dressing room. I think we know that we have enough quality, with the signings we’ve made, to match or exceed last year’s performance.”

The recent losses have also brought a lot of focus on Barcelona’s high defensive line tactics and the team’s pressing – with Pau Cubarsi suggesting that the forwards were not doing enough. On being asked for his thoughts, Eric explained:

“Our pressure starts with the forwards, but we have different types of forwards. Raphinha helps us a lot with pressure and he hasn’t been with us for a few weeks due to injury, but it’s a bit like what I said.

“Our opponents hurt us more with runs from the second line, they exploit the space. It’s something we’re already working on, but I’ll go back to what I said before. We’ve had two defeats and everything is being dramatised.”

The defender insisted that things were ‘being blown out of proportion’ due to recent results, stating that Barcelona had managed to keep clean sheets against Getafe and Valencia, and had kept Newcastle United out until the last minute.

Commenting on the high-intensity style of the team under Flick and whether it causes him to ‘lose sleep’ like it did with Inigo Martinez, Garcia replied:

“[Smiles]. Yes, I sleep. It’s risky if you don’t do it right, but that’s the trick. If we do it right, most of our opponents fall into an offside trap because they rush into it. They see so much space that they know they have to put the ball there, but they do it too quickly.

“We know we have to keep improving because our opponents are finding ways to counter it. It’s a way of playing that, in general, isn’t working well.”

On Inigo and Cubarsi

The departure of Inigo has left a void at Barcelona and Eric, too, admitted that he missed having the veteran defender in the squad, saying:

“He’s a very charismatic person who helps a lot in the dressing room and is a leader on the pitch. Obviously, you miss people like that.”

Inigo left Barcelona in the summer. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

On whether he sees himself as one of Barcelona’s defensive leaders now that Inigo is no longer in the team, the Spaniard said:

“It’s something I’m doing more and more, and I’ve been told that people see me as capable of doing it. I think I can do it, and having had Inigo around and seen how he did it, he’s someone I can look up to. And if I can help the team that way, I’m delighted.”

Garcia then opened up on his partnership and understanding with Pau Cubarsi, saying: “With Cubarsi, we are lucky to have played in the Olympics together, in every match. We understand each other almost without speaking.

“It’s true that we may not be the two tallest centre-backs, but if you look at the example of Mascherano when he was here at Barça, the performance he gave, nowadays there are many centre-backs who are not that tall.

“At the end of the day, you play for a club like Barça, where you’re going to have 70% possession, so obviously the other 30% that you don’t have is dangerous because you expose yourself to something, which is leaving space behind you, but I think that’s why we’re defenders, to be there in those moments.”

On Rashford, Lamine, and others

Garcia also discussed Barcelona’s summer signing Marcus Rashford and what challenges the Manchester United loanee can face, having himself experienced Premier League football in the past.

“I think that in the Premier League the matches are more open, more back and forth, there can be more space for the forwards, here the opponents will wait for us a little further back, there won’t be as much space behind,” explained the 24-year-old.

“He’s a player who has this explosiveness, this ability to get into space. I think that’s something that changes a bit from what he had there, and he’s showing that he’s also very dangerous one-on-one.

“He can help us in many positions and is a very important player. He has this versatility to play left wing, forward, right wing, which is very important in a club.”

On Barcelona’s biggest attacking threat, Lamine Yamal, and if he had a formula to stop him in training sessions, Eric stated:

“Well, it’s difficult, very difficult. He has talent, quality… Obviously, there’s Messi and then there’s him. I think he has qualities that are very similar, although I’m not going to say he’s like Messi because, at the end of the day, there’s only one Messi.”

Dro is a special talent believes Eric. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Regarding the emergence of Pedro Fernandez ‘Dro’ from La Masia this season, he remarked:

“He’s a player who turns very well between the lines and uses both legs very well. Wow, personally, as a lad born in 2008, I think he’s… He’s really surprised me.

“Dani is injured, Fermin is coming back from injury… I think he’ll get opportunities and we’ll see the innate talent that only certain players have.”

Regarding the number of injuries Barcelona have had this season, the Spaniard said: “I couldn’t say. Ultimately, Olmo’s injury, however minor, happened outside the club, and Lewandowski’s happened outside the club.

“Gavi has a knee problem, Joan too. I think these are things that are beyond our control. I mean, anyone can suffer a knee injury, whether in training or playing. These are injuries to players who are important to us, but the season is very long.

“I think we have enough players to compete well and as we get the injured players back, we will grow stronger.”

Eric also had a lot of positive words to say about Ansu Fati, who has been excelling on loan at AS Monaco this season.

“He deserves it so much. I spoke to him the other day and congratulated him. Ansu needed a bit of what I did when I went to Girona, to have that consistency, that confidence, to get minutes, to play a lot,” he said.

“We’re not going to discover Ansu or say that we’ve now seen that he has a lot of quality and that he scores a lot of goals because he’s always had that.”

Finally, when asked to name the most underrated player in the Barcelona squad, Eric replied:

“Wow! I think maybe… Frenkie could be there, and I think the two attacking midfielders, both Fermin and Dani. They’re players who, when we have them both playing well, make a big difference.

‘They’re two players who score goals, who give you assists, who work hard. Dani can also play as a false nine, and they can play together. I think they’re two players who are very important to our team.”