MADRID, 24 One. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Barcelona coach Francisco Javier García Pimienta will lead UD Las Palmas until June 2023 and takes over from Pepe Mel, dismissed on Sunday after the defeat on Saturday in Fuenlabrada, the Canarian club announced on Monday.
García Pimienta began his career on the bench in 2003 in FC Barcelona’s grassroots football, where in the 2017-18 season he directed the youth team that was proclaimed league and European champion in the UEFA Youth League, and later made the leap to Barça B, where he remained for 102 games until 2021. He has been the technical director who has managed the Barça club teams for the longest time, for 17 years.
“This curriculum, closely linked to youth academy work and connected to a game model very close to UD Las Palmas, has made García Pimienta the person who, in the club’s opinion, can make the sports project progress to achieve the objectives short and long term marked by the board of directors”, said the yellow entity, which confirmed that the Catalan coach will arrive accompanied by his second coach, Alex García.
On Sunday, UD Las Palmas announced the dismissal of Pepe Mel, who had been on the bench of the Canarian team since March 2019. The team was in the fight for the promotion zone after 24 games, always tight until the last date, and it came from good performances like the victory in the derby in Tenerife. However, the board decided to change the bench in search of bringing the goal of being in that ‘Top 6’ closer.
With 128 games at the helm of the yellow bench (divided into 44 wins, 41 draws and 43 losses), Mel is the second coach in the history of UD Las Palmas with the most consecutive games of charge, only behind Pierre Sinibaldi, and fourth in total.