Barca coach furious after bad-tempered clash against Getafe yields goalless draw
\nGETAFE:
\nSpanish champions Barcelona began their La Liga title defence with a frustrating 0-0 draw at Getafe on Sunday, with both sides reduced to 10 men in a bad-tempered clash.
\nBarca winger Raphinha was sent off for an elbow in the first half and Getafe\u2019s Jaime Mata was dismissed early in the second for two yellow cards.
\nXavi Hernandez earned a red card himself for touchline complaints as his Barcelona side battled to find a late winner but, like last season, they started their domestic campaign with a goalless draw.
\nThe coach handed debuts to summer signings Ilkay Gundogan and Oriol Romeu as Barcelona began their campaign with one of the most uncomfortable away trips of the season.
\nThe Catalans had failed to score in their three previous visits to the Coliseum Alfonso Perez and Getafe got into Barcelona\u2019s faces from the start.
\nXavi complained about the length of the grass at Getafe last season, saying it ruined the spectacle of the match, and this time it was repeated fouls which disrupted the champions\u2019 rhythm.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s normal that people don\u2019t want to watch football, this has barely been a game,\u201d Xavi told reporters.
\n\u201cA point for us is not sufficient but this was a very difficult game for us to play.\u201d
\nDamian Suarez winded former Manchester City midfielder Gundogan with a barge in the chest, among other challenges which crossed the line between fair and foul.
\nRaphinha was targeted on multiple occasions too and eventually he snapped, flinging an elbow into Gaston Alvarez\u2019s head, earning a red card.
\nThe Brazilian had been Barcelona\u2019s brightest player, drawing two saves from Getafe goalkeeper David Soria, but left his team in the lurch.
\nAfter Ousmane Dembele\u2019s departure this week to Paris Saint-Germain, the onus was on Raphinha to step up and show his quality on the right flank after a mixed first season.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s obvious that it\u2019s a clear red card and it can\u2019t happen,\u201d Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen told DAZN.
\n\u201cWe played well, we didn\u2019t want the match to stop so much, and tried to play as quickly as possible, but it was very difficult because of the opponents.\u201d
\nXavi made an attacking change at half-time, throwing on winger Ez Abde for Andreas Christensen, with Frenkie de Jong dropping into central defence.
\nGetafe\u2019s Mata levelled the playing field before the hour mark when he tripped the rampaging Ronald Araujo to earn a second booking.
\nXavi brought on 16-year-old starlet Lamine Yamal and Ansu Fati to try and snatch a late winner and they quickly combined, but the latter fired over.
\nAfter 10 minutes of stoppage time had been added on in the first half, nine further minutes were signalled in the second, with 16 actually played after a VAR review for an Araujo penalty claim.
\nThe Uruguayan was felled in the box but no penalty was awarded because of a Gavi handball in the build-up.
\nXavi was also unimpressed with the long periods of stoppage time as a solution to time wasting.
\n\u201cThis is also shameful, in my opinion,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWith \u2018effective time\u2019 (stopping the clock) in football you put a stop to this. I\u2019ve said it a thousand times already \u2013 we\u2019re making fools of ourselves.\u201d
\nBarcelona could not find a breakthrough and will be playing catch-up after rivals Real Madrid\u2019s convincing 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
\n\u201cWe knew it would be a tough game,\u201d said Getafe goalkeeper Soria.
\n\u201cThey have a lot of attacking talent and we had just enough players \u2013 it told in the second half that they had a lot more on the bench.\u201d
\nElsewhere Real Betis snatched a late win at Villarreal through Willian Jose\u2019s stoppage-time strike.
\nAyoze Perez put the visitors ahead after fine work by Luis Henrique, but Jorge Cuenca pulled the Yellow Submarine level before Jose\u2019s late winner.
\nBetis\u2019s Isco started a La Liga match for the first time since November 2022, having left Sevilla by mutual consent in December and joined their rivals this summer, and was bright despite his time out of the game.
\nLast season\u2019s Copa del Rey runners-up Osasuna won 2-0 at Celta Vigo, inflicting defeat on the Galicians in veteran manager Rafa Benitez\u2019s first game at the helm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Barca coach furious after bad-tempered clash against Getafe yields goalless draw GETAFE: Spanish champions Barcelona began their La Liga title defence with a frustrating 0-0 draw at Getafe on Sunday, with both sides reduced to 10 men in a bad-tempered clash. Barca winger Raphinha was sent off for an elbow in the first half and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-349360","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n