FC Barcelona opened their 2023-24 league campaign with a draw against Getafe. The first match for the Catalans was filled with controversy, and the team was unable to play its natural game due to frequent stoppages and fouls.
Thus, the match referee was a subject of criticism after and during the match. The official handed out three red cards. Two of these went to Raphinha and Xavi, and the third one was shown to the Getafe player Jaime Mata.
In addition to these red cards, there was also a flurry of yellow cards and a penalty appeal at the death of the game, which ended by being given as a handball by Gavi in the build-up.
As a result of these incidences, and the minor events of time-wasting and cynical play, a number of Barcelona players criticized the referee. As reported by Mundo Deportivo, Frenkie de Jong, the fourth Barcelona captain, was one such player who expressed his displeasure after the match:
“It’s a real shame that La Liga makes decisions like this. Getafe wasted 20 or 30 minutes. It’s disgraceful. Referees and La Liga need to make different decisions, like the Premier League.”
Later in his talk, he again demanded the referees be more careful in this regard: “Referees must put an end to time-wasting already.”
After having criticized the match referees, Frenkie also showed his unhappiness with the team’s performance, as he confessed that: “We need to do better.”
Barcelona have not kicked off their La Liga campaign with the best of results, and the referee can be blamed for the result only this much. However, there is also no doubt that Barcelona would have been able to put in a better performance if the game had flowed without too many stoppages.
