of the club's players and Balmanya and Escolà returned from exile in 1941. During their first season back, Barça, with Joan Josep Nogués as coach, narrowly avoided being relegated after winning a play-off against Real Murcia. Despite this however the club managed to win the Copa del Generalísimo, beating Athletic Bilbao 4–3 after extra time. Between 1935 and 1944, Balmanya also played 4 games for the Catalan XI. On 19 January 1936, at the Les Corts, he played in a testimonial for Josep Samitier against SK Sidenice of Czechoslovakia. Other players in the Catalan XI that day included Sagibarba Coaching career Balmanya subsequently followed Nogués to Gimnàstic de Tarragona where he both finished his playing career and began his coaching career when he succeeded Nogués as coach in 1949. However his first appointment as coach ended in disappointment as Gimnástic were relegated in 1950. After spells at both Girona FC and Real Zaragoza, Balmanya found his first taste of success at Real Oviedo when he guided them to second place in Segunda División, Group 1 in 1955. However Real missed out on promotion after finishing only third in a play-off group. Balmanya served as coach at FC Barcelona for two seasons between 1956 and 1958. With a squad including Velasco, Joan Segarra, Ramallets, Ladislao Kubala, Luis Suárez and Evaristo, he won the Copa del Generalísimo in 1957 and the first ever Fairs Cup in 1958. However, during his two seasons with Barcelona, they finished third in La Liga on both occasions and in 1958 he was replaced by Helenio Herrera. After two seasons in France with FC Sète, Balmanya returned to La Liga to take charge of Valencia CF in 1960 and in 1961 he helped them win their own summer trophy, the Trofeo Naranja. Guest player Sándor Kocsis scored in both games as Valencia beat Botafogo and Barcelona. He also guided the club to the 1962 Fairs Cup final. However the original final date clashed with the 1962 World Cup and was postponed. By the time the final was eventually played, Balmanya had moved on and he missed out on the club's 6–3 aggregate win over Barcelona. During the 1963–64 season Balmanya was coach at Real Betis and he guided the club to third place in La Liga. He then coached CD Málaga for the 1964–65 season, helping them win promotion after they finished runners-up in Segunda División, Group