Real Betis’ Marc Roca on U.S. tour, teaming with USMNT players, and more

This is part two of a three-part preview series featuring interviews from players and key figures from Liverpool FC and Real Betis ahead of their July 26th friendly at Acrisure Stadium. Stay tuned for parts two and three!

Read part one, an interview with Liverpool FC legend Tash Dowie, here.

Liverpool’s Tash Dowie on women’s soccer growth, W League, and more

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With Real Betis making their third trip to the U.S. since their inaugural American tour in 2019, it’s clear the La Liga side have placed an increased emphasis on growing its brand internationally alongside the club’s rise in domestic play on the field. Since last returning to the Spanish top flight in 2015, Betis have become regular top-seven finishers, securing European football in five of the past seven seasons, and winning a stunning Copa del Rey title in 2022. Ahead of their 2024-25 campaign and return to the Europa Conference League, the club has returned to U.S. soil to open their preseason campaign against Liverpool FC at Acrisure Stadium this Friday.

Among the players on the tour for Betis, who feature U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Johnny Cardoso, is one of his midfield partners and fellow 2023 transferee Marc Roca. After joining Betis on loan from Leeds United last summer, where he previously partnered with multiple other USMNT midfielders in Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, and Brendan Aaronson, Roca completed a permanent move to Betis this summer to return to his native Spain after nearly half a decade abroad between Germany and England.

After coming through the youth system of hometown club Atletic Vilafranca, Roca joined Espanyol’s academy at 11 years old. He’d eventually make his senior debut for the club at 18 en route to becoming a staple of the Espanyol midfield through 2020. Roca then made a major move to Germany on a five-year deal with Bayern Munich, where he would feature in back-to-back Bundesliga winning sides and appear in the club’s Champions League runs.

After the 2022 season, Roca would join Leeds United in the English Premier League on a reported €12M fee. Following his lone year in England, Roca returned to Spain on loan with Betis for the 2023-24 season, where he featured heavily and earned a permanent move this summer to remain with the club. In addition to his high-level club career, Roca also featured with the Spanish U-21 side that won the 2019 U-21 Euros, scoring in the semifinal win over France.

With Betis set for another exciting season battling near the top of La Liga and in European play, Pittsburgh Soccer Now sat down with Roca in an exclusive interview to discuss his career, the importance of nurturing homegrown talent, playing alongside his USMNT teammates, and more.

Marc Roca Q&A

Colton Coreschi, PSN: You have spent time in both Spain and England during your playing career, how would you say the styles of the two leagues compare? What are the differences you’ve seen while playing in either?

Marc Roca, Real Betis Midfielder: “It can be hard to make comparisons, but the Premier League is maybe a bit more of a physical league. More box-to-box, more open games, where La Liga is more tactical games, more technical and tactical. It’s not like the Premier League in that way where they [the Premier League] don’t stop. Here it’s more calm, more patient with the ball. You have to put together good attacks if you want opportunities to score because the defenses are more closed. So those are a bit different, but both are very good leagues.”

CC: This year marks your return to domestic Spanish football for the first time since 2020. What does it mean to you to be returning back to Spain after years abroad in England and Germany?

MR: “It was good for me to go to Munich and play two years in the Bundesliga with a super-team like Bayern, and afterwards I was in the Premier League with Leeds United. I think it was a very good experience for me because spent time there, I played in two other leagues that are very different than Spain.

I think I’ve got a good opportunity here, I’ve just signed a new contract here in Betis for four years, and I’m very happy here. I think we can do great things with this team. I think together with the fans we’re in great shape, and now it’s a great opportunity for me to keep growing.”

CC: You join Betis for the upcoming season after spending the 2023-24 season on-loan here from Leeds United. How was your experience with the club last year? And what are you looking forward to in the year ahead?

MR: “Last year was the first year in my career that I was on loan. It was good for me because I got to return here to Spain and play here in La Liga and the Europa League for Betis. And now they have trust in me and I’m looking forward to starting the league, playing in front of our fans, because we have incredible fans in the Estadio Benito Villamarín. I think we can do amazing things this year because we’ve got a strong, strong team, and we’re ready for a new chapter.”

CC: There is an increased focus in the U.S. in recent years on homegrown player development by local clubs. You played for both your local boyhood club in Atletic Vilafranca as well as time in the academy and starting your pro career with nearby Espanyol in Barcelona. What does it mean as a player to have a chance to represent the place you grew up?

MR: “For me, it was amazing. I was playing in the Espanyol team since I was 12 years old and afterwards made my debut in 2016. Espanyol gave me the opportunity to play in front of our fans and in our stadium in La Liga. For me, it was an amazing experience. I feel Espanyol in my heart, they gave me everything, I love it and enjoyed it a lot there. It was my hometown, my place where I grew up and where I feel like home – it was an amazing experience.”

CC: Real Betis returns to the U.S. for the third time this summer, and has increasingly invested in the U.S. market with academy programs and camps. With the game growing substantially in the U.S., how important is it to connect with fans who don’t often get a chance to see the club play?

MR: “It’s good, and very important, for the fans to be able to see us. We can share time, they can see us, how we play, the style and type of football we practice. It’s good for us, the fans, everybody, to be together, to show who we are. It’s great for the fans and for us as well.”

CC: You play alongside the U.S. Men’s National Team representative Johnny Cardoso in midfield. How was playing with him in 2023-24 and what are you looking forward to working on together to improve the midfield for Betis in 2024-25?

MR: “Yeah, both Johnny [Cardoso] and Tyler Adams – I also played with Weston McKennie and Brendan Aaronson. It was amazing for me to play with them, I think they’re such amazing players, very talented, very hard-working. It’s so easy to play with them, we have a good connection and we’re easily able to play together. They helped me, I’ve helped them, and I think together we [Roca and Cardoso] make a good duo.”

CC: These preseason tours often involve playing clubs from several other countries. How important is it to have the chance to prepare against styles from other domestic leagues that you might not see often in La Liga?

MR: “I think it’s very important for us – we play against a lot of teams from other leagues in the Europa League last year, and this year we are in the Conference League. I think it’s a good moment for us to play with them, see how physical they are, how we can beat them. I think it’s good for us as a team to improve, to see how we are, and I think it’ll help us a lot.

CC: You have represented both the Spain U-21 team in the Euros that you won and scored in the semifinals against France, as well as a friendly with the Catalonia National Team. What does it mean to represent your national team?

MR: Yeah, for all of us, to be able to play in the national team is an amazing experience. It’s the most significant level at which we can play. I had the opportunity to play in the Euro U-21s with the national team and we won the championship, and it was an amazing experience that we enjoyed a lot. It’s amazing to be honest, one of the goals in my career is that I hope to play in the [senior] national team. I think we feed off these types of goals and strive harder to reach it.