Marc Roca

Marc Roca Junqué (born 26 November 1996) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for La Liga club Real Betis, on loan from EFL Championship club Leeds United.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Roca and the second or maternal family name is Junqué.
Marc Roca
Personal information
Full name Marc Roca Junqué[1]
Date of birth (1996-11-26) 26 November 1996[2]
Place of birth Vilafranca, Spain[2]
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Betis
(on loan from Leeds United)
Number 21
Youth career
2003–2008 Atlètic Vilafranca
2008–2015 Espanyol
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 Espanyol B 51 (6)
2016–2020 Espanyol 105 (3)
2020–2022 Bayern Munich 15 (0)
2022– Leeds United 32 (1)
2023– → Betis (loan) 10 (2)
International career
2015 Spain U19 1 (0)
2018–2019 Spain U21 7 (2)
2016 Catalonia 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:10, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

He started his career at Espanyol, appearing in 121 competitive matches and four La Liga seasons. In October 2020, he signed with Bayern Munich.

Roca won the 2019 European Under-21 Championship with Spain.

Club career

Espanyol

Born in Vilafranca del Penedès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Roca joined RCD Espanyol's youth setup in 2008, aged 11.[3] He started his career at Espanyol, appearing in 121 competitive matches and four La Liga seasons. On 24 August 2014, he made his senior debut with the reserves, starting in a 2–2 Segunda División B home draw against Lleida Esportiu.[4]

Roca scored his first senior goal on 17 January 2015, his team's second in a 2–3 home loss to UE Olot.[5] On 4 August he renewed his contract until 2017,[6] and was promoted to the B side shortly after.

On 26 August 2016, Roca made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, starting in a 2–2 home draw against Málaga CF.[7] On 11 November, he agreed to an extension until 2022 and was permanently promoted to the main squad the following season.[8]

Roca scored his first goal in the top flight on 21 April 2019, in a 2–2 draw at Levante UD.[9] He played 44 matches across all competitions in the 2019–20 campaign, but the club was relegated to Segunda División for the first time in 26 years.[10]

Bayern Munich

On 4 October 2020, Roca signed for FC Bayern Munich on a five-year contract.[11] He made his official debut 11 days later, in a 3–0 defeat of amateurs 1. FC Düren in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.[12][13] He appeared in his first Bundesliga match later that month, coming on as an injury-time substitute for Serge Gnabry in the 2–1 away victory over 1. FC Köln.[14]

Roca played his first-ever game in the UEFA Champions League on 25 November 2020, starting and being sent off for two bookable offences midway through the second half on an eventual 3–1 group stage win against FC Red Bull Salzburg.[15] He totalled only 11 appearances in his first season.[16]

Roca featured slightly more in 2021–22 as his team won the league again, but was once again a fringe first-team player.[17]

Leeds United

On 17 June 2022, Leeds United announced that Roca would join the club on 1 July after an agreement was reached with Bayern Munich; he agreed to a four-year contract for a reported €12,000,000 fee that could eventually rise up on add-ons.[18][19] He made his Premier League debut on 6 August, starting in a 2–1 home victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.[20] He scored his first goal one month later, in the 5–2 away defeat to Brentford.[21]

Roca returned to Spain in summer 2023, on a season-long loan at Real Betis.[22]

International career

On 28 December 2016, Roca made his debut for the Catalonia autonomous team, starting in a 3–3 draw against Tunisia (4–2 penalty loss).[23] He was named in Spain's under-21 squad for the 2019 UEFA European Championship, starting the final three games of the tournament for the eventual winners including a 4–1 semi-final victory over France in which he scored.[24][25]

Career statistics
As of match played 1 October 2023[26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Espanyol B 2014–15 Segunda División B 111————111
2015–16 Segunda División B 343————343
2016–17 Segunda División B 62————62
Total 516————516
Espanyol 2016–17 La Liga 25010———260
2017–18 La Liga 8010———90
2018–19 La Liga 35150———401
2019–20 La Liga 35210—8[lower-alpha 1]0—442
2020–21 Segunda División 2000———20
Total 105380—80—1213
Bayern Munich 2020–21 Bundesliga 6020—2[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0110
2021–22 Bundesliga 9000—4[lower-alpha 2]000130
Total 15020—6010240
Leeds United 2022–23 Premier League 3213010——361
Betis (loan) 2023–24 La Liga 8100—1[lower-alpha 1]0—91
Career total 21111130101501024111
  1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. Appearance(s) in FIFA Club World Cup

Honours

Espanyol

Bayern Munich

Spain U21

References
  1. "Squad List: FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2020: FC Bayern München" (PDF). FIFA. 1 February 2021. p. 3. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  2. "Marc Roca". Eurosport. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  3. Juárez, Mari Carmen (29 July 2016). "Marc Roca, el canterano que cautiva a Quique" [Marc Roca, the youth player who captivates Quique]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  4. Blanco, Íñigo (25 August 2014). "Un empat amb dos sabors" [A draw with two tastes]. L'Esportiu (in Catalan). Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  5. "Remuntada de les que fan afició (Espanyol B 2–3 UE Olot)" [Old-school comeback (Espanyol B 2–3 UE Olot)] (in Catalan). UE Olot. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  6. "Marc Roca, renovado" [Marc Roca, renewed] (in Spanish). RCD Espanyol. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  7. Sierra, David (26 August 2016). "El Espanyol regala un punto al Málaga" [Espanyol give a point to Málaga]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  8. "El Espanyol renueva a Marc Roca hasta 2022" [Espanyol renew Marc Roca until 2022]. Sport (in Spanish). 11 November 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  9. López, Víctor (21 April 2019). "El Levante, que acabó con 10, y el Espanyol se quedan a medias" [Levante, who ended with 10, and Espanyol go halfway]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  10. Martínez, Jorge (21 July 2020). "La IA define dónde se revalorizaría más la promesa Marc Roca: Madrid, contra Arsenal y Milan" [AI defines where would prospect Marc Roca increase in value more: Madrid, against Arsenal and Milan]. El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  11. "FC Bayern sign Marc Roca". FC Bayern Munich. 4 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  12. "1. FC Düren 0:3 Bayern München" (in German). German Football Association. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  13. Siemer, Torben (16 October 2020). "Wie schlugen sich die Neuen des FC Bayern?" [How did FC Bayern new faces fare?] (in German). Sport.de. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  14. "Müller bringt Bayerns Arbeitssieg auf den Weg" [Müller gets hard-fought win for Bayern going] (in German). kicker. 31 October 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  15. "Bayern Munich 3–1 FC Red Bull Salzburg". BBC Sport. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  16. Silva, Samuel (13 November 2021). "El Betis apunta a Marc Roca" [Betis targetting Marc Roca]. Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  17. "Marc Roca busca una salida del Bayern" [Marc Roca looking for way out of Bayern]. Sport (in Spanish). 20 May 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  18. "Bayern Munich midfielder Marc Roca to join Leeds United". Leeds United F.C. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  19. "Leeds sign Bayern Munich midfielder Roca". BBC Sport. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  20. Unwin, Will (6 August 2022). "Brenden Aaronson inspires Leeds to comeback victory over Wolves". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  21. Miller, Ben (3 September 2022). "Brentford 5–2 Leeds United: Ivan Toney passes 50 goals for Bees with stunning hat-trick". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  22. "Marc Roca: Leeds United loan midfielder to Real Betis". BBC Sport. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  23. "Catalonia impress before going down to Tunisia after penalty shootout". Sport. 28 December 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  24. Clark, Gill (27 June 2019). "Marc Roca, Spain advance to 2019 U21 Euro final with 4–1 win vs. France". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  25. Fisher, Ben (30 June 2019). "Classy Spain sink Germany to lift Euro Under-21 Championship". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  26. Marc Roca at Soccerway
  27. Molero, Iván (10 May 2021). "Día Internacional de Marc Roca" [Marc Roca International Day]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  28. "Bayern Munich crowned Bundesliga champions". Bundesliga. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  29. "Bayern Munich beat Tigres to win Club World Cup". ESPN. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  30. "Pavard completes sextuple for dominant Bayern". FIFA. 11 February 2021. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  31. Begley, Emlyn (30 June 2019). "Spain U21 2–1 Germany U21". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
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