Luis García Plaza (; born 1 December 1972) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a right-back or a central defender. He is the current manager of La Liga club Sevilla.
Playing career In his career, García never played in higher than Segunda División B. Born in Madrid, he finished his development at Atlético Madrid and, after three seasons with its reserves, moved to Yeclano, where he coincided with José Luis Oltra and Paulino.
Still in the Madrid community, García then represented Rayo Vallecano B, completing his sole season with the club on loan at Talavera. He signed for Benidorm in the summer of 1996, spending four years at the Alicante side.
García was forced to retire due to injury in 2000, aged only 27.
Coaching career García took up coaching in 2001, starting with amateurs Altea and moving two years later to another club in the Valencian Community, Villajoyosa of the third tier, remaining the same amount of time there.
In 2005–06, after a very brief spell at Altea, García led Villarreal's reserves to the Tercera División championship, but the team failed to gain promotion in the subsequent playoffs. Afterwards, he signed with Elche in Segunda División – and also in the Valencia region – being sacked on 7 January 2007 following a 1–1 home draw against Cádiz (the team eventually retained their league status).
After one year with former club Benidorm, García was appointed at Levante, helping to a return to La Liga after a three-year absence in his second season. In the following campaign, he led the side to the 14th place, the home highlights being a 2–0 win over Atlético Madrid and home draws with Real Madrid (0–0) and Barcelona (1–1).
On 8 June 2011, García signed for Getafe for three years. He coached the capital outskirts team to the 11th position in his debut season, finishing one better the following year.
García was dismissed on 10 March 2014, after Getafe only collected four draws in 12 games. In the following two seasons, he worked in the UAE First Division League with Baniyas.
In June 2017, García was appointed as manager of China League One club Beijing Renhe on a five-month deal. He coached the team to promotion back to the Super League in his first season, collecting 13 wins, two draws and three losses; on 9 November, he extended his contract.
García returned to Villarreal on 10 December 2018, replacing the fired Javier Calleja at the helm of the first team. After only one month in charge, and no league wins, he too was relieved of his duties.
On 9 July 2019, García headed back to Beijing Renhe following the resignation of Aleksandar Stanojević. He left on 18 November following their relegation, having won none and drawn two of 11 games. Before the end of the year, he found a new job at Al-Shabab, ninth in the Saudi Pro League.
On 6 August 2020, García replaced Espanyol-bound Vicente Moreno at Mallorca in the second division, winning promotion as runners-up in his debut campaign. On 22 March 2022, with the club inside the relegation zone, he was dismissed.
García was appointed at second-tier Alavés on 23 May 2022, on a one-year contract. He achieved promotion in his first season via the playoffs, then secured survival the following campaign with four games to spare.
On 2 December 2024, García was relieved of his duties. In March 2026, he took over at Sevilla on a one-and-a-half-year contract.
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamNatFromToRecord Altea1 July 200130 June 2003 Villajoyosa30 June 200330 May 2005 Altea30 May 200530 May 2005 Villarreal B30 May 20051 July 2006Elche1 July 20067 January 2007Benidorm1 July 200719 July 2008Levante20 July 20087 June 2011Getafe8 June 201110 March 2014 Baniyas10 July 201418 March 2016 Beijing Renhe8 June 201710 December 2018Villarreal10 December 201829 January 2019 Beijing Renhe9 July 201912 November 2019 Al Shabab12 December 201918 July 2020 Mallorca 6 August 202022 March 2022 Alavés 23 May 20222 December 2024 Sevilla 24 March 2026Present Total —
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