Spanish midfielder Luis Garcia belongs to a special club of Liverpool cult heroes. His goals on the road to Istanbul have given him almost legendary status in the minds of many Reds supporters. Despite being prone to errors, particularly losing possession in domestic fixtures, it was impossible not to love him. He could be almost invisible at times but then out of nowhere pop up with a match winner, particularly in some very important games.
Luis Javier Garcia Sanz was born in June 1978, in Badalona, Spain. He started his football career in the youth squad at Barcelona. He made it into the reserve side before being sold to Valladolid in 1999. He spent his first two seasons at the club out on loan at Toledo and Tenerife. At Tenerife he first worked under Rafa Benitez who was in the process of making his name as one of Spanish football’s hottest young managers. Luis was one of the key players as Tenerife finished third in the Spanish Segunda Division and gained promotion to La Liga in 2001. He returned to Valladolid for the 2001/02 season and scored ten goals in thirty five games. His performances during this campaign persuaded Barcelona to buy him back, before immediately reselling him to Atletico Madrid. After another fine season in 2003/03, Barcelona exercised a buy back clause to bring him back to the Camp Nou in the summer of 2003. After three false starts at Barcelona, Luis Garcia finally made it into their first team for the 2003/04 season. He did well and went on to score eight times in thirty eight games.
In the summer of 2004, Liverpool got a new manager in Rafa Benitez who replaced Gerard Houllier. Benitez found himself with a talented but underperforming squad. Michael Owen and Danny Murphy left the club soon after Rafa’s arrival and during his first season several players from La Liga were brought to Anfield to reinforce the squad. The first two that arrived, Josemi and Antonio Nunez were subsequent failures, but the second two Spanish players to arrive turned out to be popular with the fans and a hit on the pitch. Luis Garcia and Xabi Alonso arrived at the same time in August 2004 and didn’t take long to make an impact as Liverpool players.
Luis made his Liverpool debut in an away fixture against Bolton Wanderers. It was a bad debut for him as the Reds lost the game 1-0 and Luis had a late goal wrongly disallowed for offside. Subsequent television replays proved that it was an incorrect decision and Luis was clearly onside when the ball was played through to him. He didn’t have to wait very long to score his first goal in a Red shirt as he scored in the very next game. He scored the third goal, finishing off a sublime passing move, in a 3-0 home victory over West Bromwich Albion. This gave the crowd at Anfield their first glimpse of Luis’ trademark celebration where he sucks his thumb in honour of his son Joel.
He scored his second goal in the next home game which was another 3-0 victory, this time over Norwich City. Just a few weeks later he scored one of his most spectacular goals with a twenty five yard volley against Charlton Athletic. This particular goal holds very special memories for me as I watched the game live in a bar in Coogee Beach in Sydney, Australia. Luis went on to finish his first Premier League season with eight goals, including the winner in the Merseyside derby at Anfield. This goal was a close range header after a long range strike from Fernando Morientes had struck the crossbar.
His form in the Premier League was patchy and his tendency to go missing for long periods in games, as well as his giving the ball away needlessly, led to a mixed response from supporters. While he was utterly frustrating in league games, his performances and goals in the Champions League made him a hero at Anfield. He scored five goals during the run to the final in Istanbul. Liverpool qualified to the knockout stages of the competition thanks to that famous night where we defeated Olympiakos. Liverpool drew German side Bayer Leverkusen in the first knockout stage, giving them the chance of revenge for the defeat in 2002. Luis’ first European goal for Liverpool came when he finished off a sublime Igor Biscan through pass to open the scoring in the first leg. The Reds went on to win 3-1 on the night. The Germans were finished off in the second leg when Luis scored two more goals in Leverkusen. The game finished in another 3-1 victory with Baros adding a late third goal and Luis almost netted a hat-trick with a couple of near misses.
Without doubt Luis’ finest goal for Liverpool came in the next round, the first leg of the quarter final against Juventus at Anfield. It was a beautiful finish that was voted his best ever goal in a 2007 poll on the official Liverpool website. This goal capped off an incredible first half that night against the giants of Turin. Sami Hyppia gave us the lead with a lovely volley from a corner. In the process winning my dad £200 after he placed a £10 bet at odds of 20 – 1 on him to score the first goal. Not longer after Sami had put the Reds into the lead came Luis’ moment of history. He latched onto the ball thirty yards from the goal and struck an unstoppable volley that flew past Buffon and straight into the top corner. It was a goal that deserved to win any game and it was at that precise moment that I started to believe that we might actually be capable of winning the trophy that year.
After a heroic performance in Turin, the Reds were matched up with Chelsea in the semi-final. After three defeats against Chelsea that season, two in the league and also the League Cup Final, the Liverpool players and supporters were extremely fired up for this tie. Just two games now stood between them and a return to the summit of European football, after a twenty year absence from the final. After a hard fought nil-nil draw at Stamford Bridge the crowd at Anfield for the second leg was electric. Many sides over the years have buckled under the incredible noise from the Kop and this night proved to be no exception. On the pitch, Luis Garcia and the officials turned out to be the difference between the two teams on the night. Just three minutes into the game, Steven Gerrard knocked the ball over the Chelsea defence and Milan Baros raced onto it. He knocked the ball over the advancing Petr Cech before being brought down. While the crowd screamed for a penalty, Luis kept a cool head and knocked the loose ball towards the goal where it was cleared by William Gallas. The referee blew for a goal and the crowd, the players and the fans watching on television went berserk. The Chelsea players were unable to come up with a reply, despite a heart stopping six minutes of injury time, and Liverpool were through to the final. Chelsea manager at the time Jose Mourinho was bitter afterwards claiming the ball never crossed the line for the wining goal. Despite technology not being able to prove anything about the legitimacy of the goal, what is not in doubt is that if the goal had not been given, Cech would have been sent off and Liverpool had a penalty. So in my opinion the argument against the goal is nonsense.
As we all know, Liverpool went on to defeat AC Milan in the final after an incredible comeback and a penalty shoot-out. Luis played well and played a big part in the first half with a clearance of the goal-line. An interesting note about the game is that Luis wanted to take the penalty to conclude the comeback after Gerrard was fouled. Jamie Carragher took the ball out of Luis’ hands and insisted that Xabi Alonso take it instead, as was Rafa’s pre game instruction.
Overall Luis’ second season at Liverpool could not be considered as successful as the previous one but he still played his part and scored some important goals during the campaign. Highlights from Luis during the first half of the 2005/06 season included a goal in the Super Cup Final against CSKA Moscow and a phenomenal flicked headed goal in the 3-0 victory over Anderlecht in the Champions League. During the second half of the season he scored against Everton again with a superb chip over the keeper. For the second season in a row Liverpool were drawn against Chelsea in a major semi-final. This time it was in the FA Cup and once again Luis was to score the winning goal. The game was played at Old Trafford and Liverpool went into the lead from a John Arne Riise thunderbolt into the bottom corner of the goal. In the second half Luis scored a spectacular goal to put the Reds two up. Drogba got one back for Chelsea but Liverpool held on the reach Rafa’s third cup final in two seasons. Unfortunately Luis missed the 2006 FA Cup Final against West Ham United. He was suspended after being sent off, ironically against West Ham, in a league game just four days after his winner in the semi final.
During the 2006/07 season Luis was more of a squad player and didn’t start games as regularly as he had previously. Despite this he still made valuable contributions such as a headed goal against Galatasaray in the Champions League, two against Bordeaux and the winner against Tottenham Hotspur in the league. Unfortunately in January 2007, he then suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in the 6-3 League cup defeat at home to Arsenal. The depressing sight of him being stretchered off the Anfield pitch was to be the last we'd see of him in a red shirt. This was a tragic way to end his Liverpool career.
In the summer of 2007 Fernando Torres joined Liverpool from Atletico Madrid and Luis went in the opposite direction in a separate deal worth around £4 million. After he had left Liverpool he published a letter to the supporters via the official Liverpool FC website. It was a wonderful tribute and a heartfelt thank you from Luis to all the players, the staff and the supporters of Liverpool. The letter can be read here - http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/archivedirs/news/2007/aug/21/N156758070821-1605.htm
In his second stint at Atletico Madrid, Luis has been a valuable squad player even if he hasn’t started every game. He made a brief comeback at Anfield in November 2008 when he came on as a late substitute in a Champions League group game. The ovation he received when entering the field, despite Liverpool losing at that moment, was a tribute to how much he is still loved by the supporters.
After two seasons as a squad player at Atletico, Luis moved on to Racing de Santander in August 2009. After just one season there he has since moved to Greece where he now plays for Panathinaikos.
Without a doubt, Luis Garcia proved himself to be a man for the big occasion during his Liverpool career. His goals in massive games won him the hearts of Liverpool supporters around the world. He was even given a popular song by the fans, sung to the tune of ‘You Are My Sunshine’ the lyrics are;
“Luis García, he drinks Sangria
He came from Barca to bring us joy
He's five foot seven, he's football heaven
So please don't take our Luis away!”
His popularity amongst Liverpool supporters was reflected in his position at number 24 in the poll “100 Players Who Shook the Kop”.
