“I will never be happy when things go badly for a rival”

FC Barcelona central defender Eric Garcia assured this Thursday after signing his new contract as a Blaugrana until 2031 that he is happy to continue with his childhood “dream” of succeeding as a ‘culer’, and assures that an “incredible future” awaits the group given the talent and youth of the players, while regarding Real Madrid he commented that he is not happy that things are not going well for them although he clarifies that, given his past as a ‘citizen’, he celebrates City’s triumph in Guardiola at the Bernabéu.

“If I have to be guided by that (Real Madrid’s current bad moment), after the Clásico it seemed that we were throwing the season away, the same on Chelsea’s day. There are worse and better moments, we have to take advantage when things are going well, like now, and get the best possible results. But I will never be happy when things go badly for a rival,” he told the media after renewing.

Of course, he did not forget that he is happy for Manchester City’s victory at the Santiago Bernabéu in the Champions League. “You are always happy that things are going well in the places you have been. They are a great team, these years they have been able to win the Champions League and several Premiers and I am happy with the triumphs they have, not only yesterday but in general,” he commented on the good moment of Pep Guardiola’s team.

Eric Garcia explained that renewing until 2031 with Barça means continuing a path that, for him, began very young. “My dream as a child, before I left, was to succeed at Barça and win titles. I had to leave and when you come back, you start the dream again. I went to Girona but my goal has always been to succeed here, to be able to play my life here and I am very happy,” he said.

The center-back also reviewed his evolution as a footballer and his adaptation to different positions, as a midfielder or even full-back. “I try to adapt to playing wherever I play. We have a team full of quality, with very good people, and I try to add where I can,” he said. “I knew my qualities. In life there are good moments, others in which things do not go as one wants. I am very happy to renew, how things are going for the team and individually I am also happy,” he added.

In a more personal way, he remembered the hard moments of his first months after returning to the club. “I arrived here very young, in difficult times, and you go from being the best to the worst in one day. But I stayed calm, I knew my qualities and I know that now I am not the best and that when I screw up one day I will not be the worst either. You have to be calm and when things are hard you have to put your head down, work hard and then everything ends up coming,” he reflected.

He considers his loan to Girona to be key, where he regained continuity. “The step of going to Girona for a season was very important to play a lot of minutes, which was convenient to get back to the level. When I returned, with Hansi, at first I had physical problems, but as the season passed, he began to trust me more and more and in different positions. It is an important job, whether you play more or less, and I am now enjoying this greater regularity and grateful to Hansi for the trust he has given me,” he explained.

Asked if he sees himself as a future captain, he took it naturally. “It’s something you don’t have to choose or not, it’s something that comes naturally. At Barça I’ve always been captain in lower categories, I like to help my teammate when you’re going through a difficult moment, on the field I like to help as much as possible. The coaches have always trusted me and it’s something that comes naturally to me. It’s not an objective, it wouldn’t be good, but it comes naturally to me to help my teammate,” he stated.

He also spoke about the immediate future of the team. “I predict an incredible future for the team. We are growing in very big steps and I predict a very good future for the club,” he said. And he defended his own competitive ambition: “I have always believed that I could be a starter at Barça, whether I played or not. This is what I work for. I am enjoying being a starter, but if one day I stop playing and the coach doesn’t put me in, I will continue to believe it. It is something very important, I believe in myself a lot.”

Regarding his relationship with the German coach, he highlighted his closeness. “Flick is very close, he cares about the player, he gives you confidence and freedom to play. If you have to play somewhere you are not used to, he gives you a lot of confidence,” he said.

He also had words for Ronald Araujo, on leave for personal reasons. “We miss him, not only as a player but as a person. He is someone very loved for what he contributes. We are waiting for him with open arms, in terms of health everyone has control over him. Let him be patient and I hope he can return to us as soon as possible because he is a very important player and we miss him,” he commented.

Eric Garcia signed his new contract this Thursday until the summer of 2031, thus extending an agreement that expired in June 2026 and making official the relevant role of the Martorell player in the Blaugrana project. The signing ceremony took place around 1:30 p.m. in the office of the club president, Joan Laporta, and later the center-back spoke to the media.

So far this season, the defender has played in all the games: 16 in LaLiga EA Sports, with 1 goal and 1 assist, and 6 Champions League games, for a total of 1,681 minutes of play – an average of 76.4 per game – and 19 starts.