FC Barcelona got off to a rocky start in its first game of the new season.
Barça played Getafe to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their 2023-2024 Spanish La Liga away tie at the Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Perez on Wednesday (local time) in a game that saw three red cards.
Barça were dealt a blow in the 42nd minute when attacking midfielder Nacer Hafinha was shown a straight red card for a rough challenge. In the second 25 minutes, there was more bad news, as Xavi Hernandez was shown a red card for protesting rough play from the bench.
In the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time, Gabi was shown a yellow card for a handball foul after tussling with an opponent.
Xavi went with a 4-2-3-1 on the day, with Robert Lewandowski up top, Ilkay Gundogan-Fedri-Hanifa in the attacking two, Franck de Jong-Oriol Romeu in defensive midfield, Alejandro Valde-Andreas Christensen-Jules Kunde-Ronald Araujo in the back four, and Ter Stegan in goal.
Barça, however, struggled to break down Getafe, who came out in a 4-5-1 formation with Juan Latasa up top. Getafe also suffered a setback in the 12th minute when left-back Jaime Mata was shown a red card for a bad foul.
Barça then pushed forward but could not find a decisive shot. Xavi made a change in attack in the 34th minute, taking off Ilkay Gundogan and Pedri and bringing on Gabi and Ansou Fatih respectively, but to no avail. Getafe’s resistance was stubborn.
It was the La Liga debut for Gündoğan, a star of last season’s Manchester City treble, but he was left without an attacking point.
In the 31st minute, Oriol Romeu came off for 16-year-old Ramin Yamal.
Barça looked to have a penalty in the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time when Araujo was kicked in the goal area by Getafe’s Juan Iglesias after a tussle with Gabi.카지노사이트
However, the referee consulted with the video assistant referee (VAR) for a while before the VAR called for a handball foul on Gabi. The game went into 16 minutes of extra time.
Barça fired off 14 shots (four on target), but were denied by Getafe goalkeeper David Soria.