Paco López and Luis García, two of the most relevant coaches in the history of Levante, meet for the first time on the benches after sharing a team in the twilight of their careers and sharing certain parallels in their early days on the bench. As technicians, it was López who replaced García at Benidorm when the Madrid native signed for Levante in 2008-09 to start a journey to remember.
Precisely both coaches meet for the first time in their careers on the benches, in an incomparable setting, First Division, at 54 and 48 years respectively. They had never before coincided in any category despite their long careers, especially in Valencian football.
Paco and Luis spent two years at Benidorm. The one from Silla arrived in 1999, at the age of 32, to the Alicante team as a hardened striker who had developed his football in Second and Second B. The Madrilenian, without knowing it, was rushing his career at only 27 years old, as a complicated injury to knee forced him to withdraw early.
They were two seasons together. In the first they achieved promotion to bronze football. The next one was in which Luis García suffered the injury that separated him from football. During his recovery he also coincided with Paco López, who also suffered from problems in this joint. It's more, as Luis García recalled in 'Without truce', Paco López involuntarily broke his nose in training.
Precisely Paco López surpassed Luis García last March as the coach with the most games in Granota history in all competitions. The Madrilenian left his account in 128 games (51 wins, 34 draws and 45 losses); while the Valencian currently has 146 crashes (49 wins, 41 draws and 56 losses). García spent two years in Second and one in First; while Paco López has developed his position in the highest category. Tomorrow in Son Moix, two living legends of the Levantine bench meet for the first time on the benches in the midst of the Granota crisis.