The Style Council
Xavi spoke with clarity, but his team languished and were stifled at the Coliseum.
If Xavi could have hand-picked a fixture to begin the title defence, a trip to the southern outskirts of the capital would have been a long way down the list. Perhaps even at the bottom. Deep into Sunday night, it was abundantly clear what the head coach was feeling, and he did not hold back in his post-match comments. After a long, hot summer, this was a long, hot game.
LaLiga fans know what Getafe are all about. The playground bullies, the minnows are effective at what they do, without a care how it makes others feel. In the opening match of the season – hosting the champions in a stadium which has the greenlight for a significant redevelopment – peak Getafe was back with a bang. Kicks, nudges, elbows and pushes to be precise.
The best thing that happened to Getafe, José Bordalás committed himself to the club again in the summer. For a man whose personal appearance underwent a monumental rejuvenation, his approach to the game will never diverge from his concrete ideas: Compress the pitch, squeeze the space and make life as difficult for the opponents as legally possible (or at least, as far as the referees will permit). Barcelona arrived knowing exactly what to expect, yet they could not overcome it. For four seasons in a row, they have been unable to score at the Coliseum, taking only three points from a possible 12 in those trips.
In a fractious first half, Damián Suárez reminded everyone that he was the top dog, chasing, harrying and occasionally fouling. İlkay Gündoğan received a ‘welcome to LaLiga’ which took the wind out of his sails, before Raphinha fell hook, line and sinker into the trap. The Brazilian lashed out, thrusting his forearm into the other Uruguayan enforcer, Gastón Álvarez, and received his marching orders. Bordalás and his staff made sure everyone saw the incident, as they erupted along the touchline and spilled onto the pitch, Bordalás wildly gesticulating at the assistant referee.
Barça’s frustration grew with their inability to break through the stubborn blue wall, and even when it became ten against ten, they still had no answer. Xavi was sent off following a contested decision in which he made physical contact with the fourth official, albeit minimal. He was forced to move up to the small boxes and shout from the top, not that anybody could hear him.
The chef’s kiss moment for Bordalás came as the clock ticked past the 100 minute mark. Ronald Araújo appeared to be kicked and VAR recommended a review, only for any decision to be rendered moot when a prior handball from Gavi was given. After the game, Xavi claimed this was an “invented handball”, a phrase that should probably see his ban extended.
The discourse on Sunday night was full of questions on style, effective time, how football should be played and whether scenes like this are good for the overall product of the league.
Firstly, product is a horribly bland, corporate word which should be nowhere near a game of football. Joy and entertainment is what it is all about. Therein lies the subjectivity. If you ask the majority of the 13,000 fans in the Coliseum whether they left having enjoyed their night, the answer would be an overwhelming and emphatic “yes”. But of course the opposing fans will have a different view. Football is ultimately about results, and those Geta fans would have left fuming had they lost to a late penalty.
Xavi defended his side’s approach, but could be questioned for his own decisions. Starting Pedri on the flank in a game which was always going to have a congested middle third seemed strange, as was the delay in adding fresh legs after Jaime Mata was dismissed. A full 13 minutes elapsed after the numerical disadvantage was neutralised.
Speaking of time being lost, Xavi was also quick to deride the tactics used by Getafe to break the game up and slow everything down. Nine added minutes were played in the first half and sixteen in the second including the review. A staggering 25 minutes of additional time in total, over a quarter of the regulation 90. But as Opta highlighted, the effective time – the amount where the ball was in play – was only just over an hour, meaning 55 minutes were lost.
Frenkie De Jong called it “a shame”, but Xavi was less able to hold his tongue, lamenting the performance of referee César Soto Grado.
“For us [the point is] insufficient. It’s a pity, a pity… Effective time in football is ridiculous. If we are selling LaLiga, this is not good for anyone… I am proud of the team who tried to play good football… It’s an absolute embarrassment, the handball is invented”.
Perhaps – and this is opinion not information – the Catalan coach is beginning to tire of the financial pressures present at the club, constricting more and more, suffocating his ability to move forward. As Real Madrid’s €100 million summer signing surged onto the front pages of the papers, Xavi’s preferred choice for impact was young players Ez Abde and Lamine Yamal. Gündoğan and Oriol Romeu made their debuts, but Iñigo Martínez has not yet been registered, all first-team arrivals over the age of 30. With the external pressures mounting, it should not be all that surprising that Xavi reverted to the more puritanical extreme of his beliefs. But that does not mean he is right.
For all the talk and postulating, Getafe were worthy of the draw and, deep down, that will be the most difficult thing for Xavi to admit.
I agree - the game was difficult to watch as a Barca fan, but the truth is the effort was insufficient. Xavi needs to complain less about the referees and focus more on producing results. This doesn’t mean that I disagree with him about the invented handball, but it does mean that Lewandowski and others need to convert!