FC Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez has slammed the referee that red-carded him in a 0-0 draw against Getafe on Sunday, as did his midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

Barca failed to pick up three points on the road at the Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Perez in the first match of their La Liga title defense. In a highly physical affair, a provoked Raphinha was sent off approaching halftime for an elbow smash on Gaston Alvarez which brought him a second yellow card.

After protesting what should have perhaps been another dismissal for Getafe when Ez Abde was brought down by the last man in the hosts’ captain Djene Dakonam, it was Xavi that was shown a straight red card instead and had to watch the rest of the match from a private box up in the stands.

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“If this match is La Liga’s product, it’s an absolute embarrassment. I understand why people don’t watch our football,” he said, adding: “The handball given to Gavi was invented. They told us in a meeting that only very clear handballs would be given and Gavi’s wasn’t one, yet they gave it anyway. They told us they would use VAR less and I don’t know if VAR is there to help or not. I don’t see the point of that meeting.

“I was sent off for telling the referee they were allowing Getafe to get away with a lot of fouls and not doing the same for us. We had a meeting with the referees and the first change they said they would make is that they would understand the coaches more, and the tension we feel on the pitch. But that is not what happened, and I don’t understand it.

“The game got away from the referee’s hands. They allow too much of this, if this is the product we are selling as a league, it’s not normal. It’s an accumulation of things, they allow our rivals to do anything they want and everything we do is a foul.”