Araujo, De Jong, Ter Stegen react after Getafe 0-0 Barcelona: “They wasted 25-30 minutes”

Barcelona began the defence of their La Liga title on a disappointing note as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Getafe away at Coliseum Alfonso Perez on Sunday night.

The Blaugrana had one or two chances, while they were also denied a penalty call due to a dubious handball decision by the match officials.

Speaking after the game, Xavi hit out at the officiating on the night for how they handled things and some of the Barcelona players also pointed fingers at the referee and Getafe for their unabashed time-wasting tactics.

Ronald Araujo was one of the Barça stars who interacted with the media and had this to say about the match.

“Modern football is very physically demanding. You play 90 minutes and then you see 11 or 12 extra. It’s difficult, but you have to adapt, and there are no excuses,” he said.

There was a bizarre moment during the game, when Araujo ended up catching a long ball with his hands while on the field of play. Explaining it, he added: “I caught the ball with my hands because I thought I was outside the pitch, but it’s nothing.”

On the penalty incident, which was denied because of an alleged handball by Xavi, the Uruguayan said: “There was a clear penalty, but there are no excuses, we have to improve.

“There was a clear penalty, even the player who took me down admitted it to me. I didn’t see any handball by Gavi.”

Fourth captain Frenkie de Jong also spoke to the media and hit out at the time-wasting, while urging the match officials to do more to tackle that issue.

“It’s a real shame that La Liga makes decisions like these. Getafe wasted 20 or 30 minutes. The referees and the league have to take different decisions, like the Premier League,” he said.

“They added 9 minutes, but in the second half, Getafe wasted 25-30 minutes,” he added.

On his new midfield partnership with Oriol Romeu, the Dutchman said: “I feel very comfortable with Oriol Romeu. He knows football well, has good passing in between the lines, and I feel comfortable in the base of midfield alongside him.”

De Jong, though, insisted that the team needed to improve and get better, saying: “We’re aiming to win La Liga, of course. We know that we have to improve.”

A similar sentiment was echoed by his midfield partner, Romeu, who said: “Hopefully we can score more goals. We need to reach the net more frequently. We need to improve. There’s a lot of matches left and we need to improve our sensations.”

Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen also spoke to the press right after the match and touched on how it was a difficult game against a difficult opponent, saying: “A difficult and strong game from both sides. I think we played a good game.”

“Getafe are an uncomfortable team to come up against. They didn’t create much danger, while we had a couple of clear chances to win.”

On Raphinha being sent off in the first half and how it impacted the team, Ter Stegen added: “Raphinha’s red card affecting our attack? When you play with less players, this happens. You adapt to the situation of the team.”

Source: BarçaTV+