Complicated start for Xavi and his troops. FC Barcelona, uninspired and quickly reduced to 10, were held in check 0-0 on the lawn of Getafe on Sunday, for their first match of the season in La Liga. Without Dembélé, gone to PSG and not yet replaced, but with his recruits Ilkay Gundogan and Oriol Romeu at kick-off, the defending champion could not do better than a draw against an aggressive and disciplined Getafe team.
The Blaugrana were reduced to 10 since the 43rd minute, after the expulsion of Brazilian winger Raphinha, who received a second yellow for an elbow on the side Gaston Alvarez, with whom the duels were tense from the start Of the game. They then played the second period at 10 against 10, after the expulsion of Mata (57th), without managing to open the scoring.
Xavi sent off in the 70th minute
The Catalans could even have found themselves at 9 at the end of the first half, when Ronald Araujo, too short on a crossbar, decided to stop the action by catching the ball with both hands. Multiplying gestures of humor in front of his bench, Xavi was sent off in the 70th minute after claiming a foul on Abdé who went alone on goal.
Barça pushed to the end with the contributions of Ansu Fati, Lamine Yamal and Gavi. But the latter was especially illustrated by throwing himself in front of the strike of Portu, who had the match point in front of the goal of Ter Stegen (105th).
“An injustice, a shame”
On the previous action, after added time, the referee had to call the VAR after Araujo collapsed in the box. The contact was very real, but viewing the video allowed the referees to detect a hand from Gavi, a few seconds before. “The referee invented a hand,” said Xavi at a press conference after the match. “For me it is an injustice, a shame. We had a meeting with the referees. They told us that they would understand the coaches better, and that they would only whistle the obvious hands. For me this hand is not obvious. »
Apart from the arbitration controversies, the Catalans therefore bring back a point from the Madrid suburbs, and will surely be satisfied with it, as they were rough, as during the sham victory against Tottenham 4-2 on Tuesday.