Bengaluru FC appoint former FC Barcelona assistant manager Albert Roca as head coach.

The 53-year-old Spaniard has signed a two-year deal..

Bengaluru FC have appointed Spaniard Albert Roca as their new Head Coach. The 53-year-old Spaniard was a centre-back in his playing days and had a senior career spanning a decade between 1982-1992 during which he had two separate spells with Zaragoza in his homeland among other adventures. Roca was Assistant coach of FC Barcelona golden generation. He was Assistant Manager at Catalan giants Barcelona between 2003-2008 before serving jn the same role with Galatasaray and Saudi Arabia. Roca replaces Englishman Ashley Westwood who lead the Southern outfit to two I-League titles in three seasons between 2013-2016. "We are very excited to announce Albert Roca as the new coach of Bengaluru FC. He is, what I would call, a major signing at the club. Albert has been with some of the best clubs in Europe as well as spent time in developing countries because of which he will have a great sense of the challenges India would bring,” said Parth Jindal, CEO, Bengaluru FC. “We have had a very successful three years and Albert is only going to compound the efforts we have been making. He has also done some commendable work with young players in his career and that is absolutely in line with the philosophy of BFC where we are trying to develop players into stellar talent for the future,” he added. Roca, a resident of Grannolers in Catalonia near Barcelona, said he was excited at the prospect of joining the Blues and was confident about playing the kind of football that the club and the supporters would be proud of. “I’m very satisfied to have signed with Bengaluru FC. They are the champions of India, have fantastic supporters and most importantly, have a great support system and a management that is always hands on and wants to stay at the top. I want to assure our supporters that we will always give it our best. I want the supporters to be happy about the way we play,” said Roca. Roca’s first game in charge will be the AFC Cup quarterfinal against Singapore side Tampines Rovers in September; a game he reckons will be a tough challenge. “The AFC Cup quarterfinal is definitely going to be a big challenge but we will do our best to get a good result and make the semis,” he said. The Blues coach is expected to land in Bengaluru in the fourth week of July. [KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]