{"id":483,"date":"2026-03-29T06:50:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T06:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=483"},"modified":"2026-03-29T06:50:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T06:50:02","slug":"barca-wouldnt-be-where-they-are-if-it-werent-for-him-arsenal-star-heaps-praises-on-barcelonas-joan-garcia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=483","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Bar\u00e7a wouldn&#8217;t be where they are if it weren&#8217;t for him&#8221; \u2013 Arsenal star heaps praises on Barcelona&#8217;s Joan Garcia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5145563\" data-slug-id=\"2758770\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Arsenal star David Raya has heaped special praise on Barcelona ace Joan Garcia for the latter&#8217;s fine debut campaign at the <em>Blaugrana<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Garcia, 24, has established himself as one of the best shot-stoppers in the La Liga since leaving Espanyol for around \u00a322 million last summer. He has helped his new team launch a dominant title push this season, replacing Marc-Andre ter Stegen as their first-choice goalkeeper in the process.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>During an interaction on Catalunya Radio, Raya asserted that Garcia has provided an excellent account of himself at Barcelona this campaign. He claimed (h\/t <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/arsenal-star-lauds-barcelona-summer-arrival-wouldnt-be-where-they-are-if-it-werent-for-him\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Barca Universal<\/a>):<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Joan Garcia is at a very high level. Bar\u00e7a wouldn&#8217;t be where they are if it weren&#8217;t for him. He&#8217;s a good guy, which is important, and he&#8217;s a goalkeeper. If the (Spain) coach decides he has to play, we&#8217;ll help him from the start.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Left out of Spain&#8217;s squad for their 3-0 friendly win against Serbia earlier this Friday, Garcia could make his international debut next Tuesday. The <em>Blaugrana<\/em> man, who is competing with Arsenal&#8217;s Raya and Athletic Club&#8217;s Unai Simon, could start in the clash against Japan on March 31. <\/p>\n<p>At club level, Garcia has made 36 appearances in all competitions for Hansi Flick&#8217;s outfit so far this term. He has registered 15 total clean sheets, conceding 35 goals in 3232 minutes of first-team action for the Catalans.<\/p>\n<h2>David Raya shares thoughts on Arsenal potentially facing Barcelona in Champions League<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking on Catalunya Radio, David Raya also suggested that he would relish the chance to face Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals this season. He said (h\/t <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/arsenal-star-lauds-barcelona-summer-arrival-wouldnt-be-where-they-are-if-it-werent-for-him\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Barca Universal<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It would be an honour to be able to face Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League. They are a very well-worked team, both defensively and offensively. And it is proven that they are getting very good results both in the league and in the Champions League.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>For Arsenal to face the <em>Blaugrana<\/em>the Gunners would have to beat Sporting CP in the Champions League quarter-finals. On the other hand, the Catalans would have to knock out Atletico Madrid in their last eight tie.<\/p>\n<p>Raya, meanwhile, is relishing a standout 2025-26 season for Arsenal. He has kept 21 clean sheets in 40 appearances across all competitions, shipping only 25 goals. He has proved to be a vital reason behind his side&#8217;s ongoing push for a treble, with the club leading the Premier League table.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Thank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Debkalpa Banerjee<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal star David Raya has heaped special praise on Barcelona ace Joan Garcia for the latter&#8217;s fine debut campaign at the Blaugrana. Garcia, 24, has established himself as one of the best shot-stoppers in the La Liga since leaving Espanyol for around \u00a322 million last summer. He has helped his new team launch a dominant [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}