Barcelona Manager Xavi Hernandez – ‘The handball is invented, it’s a disgrace’

Barcelona Manager Xavi Hernandez has not held back on his thoughts about the refereeing team during his side’s 0-0 draw with Getafe on Sunday night.

During the tie Raphinha was initially sent off in the first half for striking Gaston Silva in the face off the ball, while Jaime Mata was dismissed for two yellows in the second half. Later on in the second period, Xavi himself was sent off for protesting a decision which saw Ez Abde go down under pressure.

“I have told him that they were allowing many fouls and for us they weren’t, that is why he sent me off. 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. My sending off is not important, we have tried in every way against a very rocky opponent. We took a point that is insufficient, it’s a shame.”

😡 Xavi lo tiene claro con la jugada que revisó Soto Grado en el VAR :

💬 “La mano es inventada”. pic.twitter.com/raZL5H7eW0

— Relevo (@relevo) August 13, 2023

Xavi was clear that there was no one cause of his frustration with the referee, whom he believed was damaging La Liga as a whole.

“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. We have not been accurate in the first half, but we have had chances in the second. They 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,” he told Sport.

Xavi, like all of the La Liga managers, had met with the refereeing team earlier in the week, and claimed that they had not stuck to the rules that they set out.

“I don’t see a hand anywhere. If the hand isn’t clear, they won’t call it, that’s what they told us. I didn’t like the meeting with the referees and I didn’t like it today either.”

“For me, the hand is invented. He invents the hand. That’s the way it is. Everyone has seen it. At the meeting they said that they would understand the coaches during moments of tension, they didn’t understand me in that moment. They said they would call handballs that were very clear, today I don’t see it clearly.”

Xavi is likely to face a ban for this words after the match, beyond the ban he will face for being sent off. Whether they understand the managers in moments of tension has certainly been put to the test by Xavi in his post-match press conference too.