Three red cards were shown as FC Barcelona began the defence of their LaLiga title with a goalless draw against Getafe on Sunday night.
LaLiga
Result: Getafe 0-0 Barcelona
Date: 13 August 2023
Venue: Coliseum Alfonso Pérez
Blaugrana coach Xavi Hernandez handed debuts to new signings Ilkay Gundogan and Oriel Romeu after the club were able to register new players and players on new contracts.
The defending champions enjoyed most of the possession in the early stages of the encounter, with Raphinha carving out the first real chance on 16 minutes with an effort from distance that forced goalkeeper David Soria to parry wide.
Getafe have failed to beat the Catalan giants in their last five league meetings, with their last win coming in the 2020/2021 season at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.
While Xavi's men did enjoy most of the possession, the game began to get a bit physical as the first half went on, with the referee not shy at pulling out the yellow cards as the game threatened to boil over.
The referee's warnings seemingly fell on deaf ears as Barcelona were reduced to ten men three minutes before the break when Raphinha was shown a straight red for lashing out at Gaston Alvarez.
However, the odds were evened up just before the hour mark when Getafe had a man sent off after Jaime Mata was given his marching orders for picking up his second yellow card.
Barcelona went agonisingly close to taking the lead two minutes when Robert Lewandowski rose well to meet a cross from Jules Kounde, but his header was cleared off the line by Alvarez.
With 20 minutes to go, there was a third record in the encounter although this time it went to Blaugrana manager Xavi, who was sent to the stands for his dissent towards the fourth official.
The reigning champions dominated possession in the closing stages as they went in search of a winning goal, but they were let down by their finishing in the 18-yard area and were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
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