Barcelona Coach Xavi Slams Referee, Calls La Liga 'a Disgrace'

• Barcelona kicked off their La Liga campaign with a visit to Getafe
• The league champions were denied a penalty in their goalless draw
• Coach Xavi has not held back his thoughts on the referee's decision

Barcelona coach, Xavi Hernandez, has not held back his displeasure with La Liga's officiating following his side’s goalless draw against Getafe.

The fierce encounter saw the centre referee, Soto Grado, call over 35 fouls and issue over 13 cards - including two reds- during the game.

The opening fixture of La Liga got highly physical and saw Raphinha provoked into elbowing Gaston Alvarez, Jaime Mata being sent off after picking up two yellow cards, and Xavi himself receiving his marching orders after protesting a potential foul on Ez Abde.

The Barcelona coach has not minced his words about his thoughts on the officiating in the game.

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Xavi slams La Liga referee

Speaking to Sport, Xavi explained he had expressed to Grado about he was allegedly allowing more fouls for Getafe, with the referee sending him off as a result.

"The other day, we had a meeting with the referees and one of the first changes they were going to implement in the regulations was that they would understand the coaches more because there is a lot of tension for us."

Xavi said the matter of his being sent off was unimportant but still called it a shame to be let down by the decisions of the referee.

"The referee is the one who allows it, there is no one else. You are allowing too much. If we sell the LaLiga product and we have this, it doesn’t help anyone. It is a cumulation of things, they let them play, they whistle us. There is no need to go any deeper. Last year we started the same and ended well."

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The Barcelona coach also lamented his team's lack of accuracy in the first half and the missed chances of the second half.

"[Getafe] were comfortable wasting time with the 0-0, it’s their football. It’s normal that people don’t want to watch football. This was not a match; today’s product is a disgrace."

Getage manager responds to Xavi

Getafe manager, Jose Bordalas, disagreed with Xavi’s opinion. Speaking to Marca, he said the opposition coach was not helping La Liga with his opinions:

"The greatness of football has these things, a small team is capable of taking a point from Barcelona. I do not share [his opinions] and it is a way of justifying, obviously, that they haven’t achieved the three points with a squad, with incredible players... We have to defend [La Liga]."

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Sports Brief also reported on Barcelona's Ronaldo Araujo committing a bizarre handball during his club’s draw against Getafe.

The 24-year-old curiously reached out and caught the ball with both hands, despite being about 10 yards inside the field at the time.