Xavi received a red card in Barca's disappointing opening match
The highlight on the Alfonso Perez field on August 13 was not a matter of expertise, but rather a controversy, when referee Cesar Soto Grado drew three red cards, with two for the away team and one for Getafe.
In the 41st minute, Raphinha beat defender Gaston Alvarez in a dispute without the ball in the Getafe field. It wasn't until the home side reacted violently that the line referee waved the flag for an error. After that, the referee Grado showed a red card to Raphinha.
The Brazilian striker is the 10th Barca player to receive a red card since Xavi returned to Camp Nou as coach. This is the fourth-largest statistic in the same period, after Getafe's 13 red cards under Quique Sanchez Flores, Atletico's 13 red cards with Diego Simeone, and Real Betis' 19 red cards under Manuel Pellegrini.
However, Getafe's numerical advantage only lasted until the 57th minute, when Jaime Mata stopped Ronald Araujo and received a second yellow card.
In the 70th minute, Jules Kounde waved the ball for the substitute Abdessamad Ezzalzouli to speed up. He argued with midfielder Djene and fell in front of the box, but the referee did not cut the whistle. Outside the touchline, Xavi reacted violently. When the ball left the field, Mr. Soto ran to draw a red card, dismissing the direction of the Barca coach.
Red cards and controversy made the match last 115 minutes and 54 seconds. This is the match with the longest playing time in La Liga since the 2017-2018 season.
At Alfonso Perez yesterday, Xavi used a familiar 4-3-3 formation, with three midfielders including rookie Oriol Romeu, Ilkay Gundogan and Frenkie De Jong. Pedri was pushed to the left wing and combined with Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha into a trio in attack.
The away side dominated with 75% possession, finishing 14 times with four shots on target - compared to Getafe's 5 and 2, but were unable to score. Gundogan squandered his first chance to score in his new shirt when his shot from close range went right into goalkeeper David Soria after 2 minutes. It was then rookie Romeu's turn to miss his chance with a shot from just outside the box. column. In the 36th minute, before receiving the red card, Raphinha broke the offside trap and then failed to win against Soria. The ball then bounced off the Getafe defender and bounced off the post.
In the second half, Barca continued to dominate, but in turn, Lewandowski, Romeu and the two substitutes Lamine Yamal and Ansu Fati did not take advantage of the opportunity.
Barca drew 0-0 for the second time in a row in the opening match of La Liga. Last season, Xavi's teachers and students were stopped by Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou. In the second round of this weekend, Barca met Cadiz and Getafe as Girona's guest.
Squad:
Getafe: Soria; Suarez, Duarte, Mitrovic (Portu 46), Alvarez; Iglesias, Alena (Lozano 65), Djene, Maksimovic, Mata; Latasa (Mayoral 65).
Barca: Ter Stegen; Araujo, Kounde, Christensen (Abde 46), Balde; Pedri (Fati 79), Romeu (Yamal 76), De Jong; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Gundogan (Gavi 79).
