For its entry into the running in La Liga, FC Barcelona, champion of Spain last season, moved on the lawn of Getafe. Before that, Xavi’s players had three consecutive warm-up victories against Real Madrid (3-0), AC Milan (1-0) and Tottenham (4-2) after starting the summer with a defeat against Arsenal (5-3). For this first day of the Spanish championship, the Barcelona coach also trusted his new recruit Ilkay Gundogan. The German also got the first chance after a defensive error but Raphinha was finally flagged for offside (2nd).
In the aftermath, Getafe reacted immediately and Juanmi Latasa then found himself in a duel with Jules Koundé and especially against Marc-André ter Stegen on a long ball behind the Blaugrana defense. Unfortunately, the Spanish striker then completely missed his gesture (4th). Shortly before the hour mark, Oriol Romeu hooked in front of the box and then unleashed a low shot which ended its race just next to the post while Ilkay Gundogan remained on the ground after an elbow from Damian Suarez in his plexus (28th ). The locals then continued to chop the game. Despite this, Jules Koundé found Raphinha in the opposing box thanks to a love of long ball over the defense but the Brazilian winger missed against Soria even if the Getafe defense pushed back the ball on their own post (36th).
A red card on both sides
And just before the break, the number 11 of the Barcelonans was expelled for having voluntarily elbowed Gaston Alvarez in the face in response to the aggressiveness of his opponents (42nd). Despite ten minutes of additional time, the 22 players still could not find the fault in this first period. Nevertheless, Ronald Araujo stood out for taking the ball in his hands on a long crossbar while still in the field. Despite the protests of the players of Getafe, the referee decided not to give a yellow card to the Uruguayan defender who had immediately realized his mistake (45th + 3). A lunar situation!
On returning from the locker room, Xavi brought in Abde Ezzalzouli in place of Andreas Christensen. It was therefore Frenkie De Jong who was forced to go down a notch alongside Jules Koundé. A few minutes later, Jaime Mata received a second yellow card after arriving late on Ronald Araujo who was overflowing the opposing defense on his right side following a soft pass from Pedri (57th). Getafe and Barcelona were then reduced to ten for the end of this encounter, which was not as spectacular as expected in terms of chances. Conversely, the number of faults on the meadow continued to increase due to the tension present this Sunday evening between the two teams.
A disappointing first in La Liga
At the dawn of the last quarter of an hour of this meeting, Xavi in turn received a red card. FC Barcelona coach. The former midfielder had just contested with too much virulence a decision of the refereeing body (71st). As at the start of the match, Ilkay Gündogan was in a perfect position, on a serve from Pedri. David Soria made a great save, but the German was then penalized for an offside position (77th). Before the final whistle, Lamine Yamal found Ansu Fati with a ball behind the defense but the number 10 hit above the frame (81st). During the last minutes, the Barcelonans tried everything for everything but without success. At the end of additional time, the Blaugranas could have obtained a penalty but the referee, with the help of the VAR, decided to whistle an unobvious hand from Gavi.
