Espanyol players with Bar�a past

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Football

15.12.2010 11:26

Espanyol players with Bar�a past

Jaume Marcet

Five members of the Espanyol squad are products of the Bar�a youth system. De la Pe�a, V�ctor Ruiz, Baena, Sergio Garc�a and Verd� all played at FC Barcelona.

They’ll be 100% blue and white on Saturday, but all five have dreamed in the Bar�a colours in the past.

Iv�n, a star before his debut

Iv�n de la Pe�a is the most famous example. The Cantabrian signed as a cadet for FC Barcelona, and was one of the huge promises for the future that emerged from the B team playing in the Miniestadi in the 1990s.

He made his debut under Cruyff in 95 and won a first team place under Robson in the 1996/97 season. But Van Gaal showed less interest and the player was eventually sold to Lazio. After an unsuccessful return to Bar�a he played for some years in France before joining Espanyol in 2002.

Sergio and Verd�

Sergio Garc�a and Joan Verd� both made first team appearances for Bar�a, but couldn’t hold down their places, despite being excellent goalscoring promises in the youth teams. Sergio Garc�a was one of the highest scoring youth players ever to be produced by the club, while Verd� was always renowned for his creativity and team play.

V�ctor and Baena

V�ctor Ruiz is one of the greatest emerging names at Espanyol, and is the regular left-sided centre back under Pochettino. He played in the Bar�a alevin and infantil B teams, but as a left-sided midfielder.

Jos� Ra�l Baena, from Malaga, played for Bar�a’s youth system alongside Alberto Bot�a (the current Sporting centre back) and Giovani dos Santos (the Tottenham striker). Baena was a central playmaker at Bar�a in the cadet and juvenil B teams.

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Presence on Bar�a TV

When they were at FCB, both Sergio and Verd� appeared in programmes about the youth players shown on the FC Barcelona television channel.

In an interview on Bar�a TV on October 2003, Verd� felt “very close to playing in the first team … I sense the coaches’ confidence in me … I have improved a lot here and am making good progress thanks to the efforts of the Bar�a coaches and players like Ramon Ros, Iniesta and Sergio Garc�a.”

Sergio Garc�a also appeared on a Canal Bar�a programme in 2001 when he played for Juvenil A. “I have come back to my club after two years at Damm, where I learned to appreciate the grandeur of FC Barcelona”, said Sergio.