Xavi Hernández, always vehement in his protests from the sidelines, ended up being sent off in the match that pitted his Barça against Atlético at the Cívitas Metropolitano. The Blaugrana coach saw a first yellow card in the 41st minute and just a few seconds later the referee Sánchez Martínez showed him a straight red card.
The Terrassa coach protested several plays throughout the first half, especially a clear grab by Barrios on Gündogan in the 36th minute that resulted in a foul but without a warning for the red-and-white player. “Man, please,” the Egarense shouted from the Barcelona bench at that moment.
Five minutes later, Xavi again made disapproving hand gestures for an alleged foul by Gündogan on Lino. Watching the replay, the German takes the ball cleanly to the Brazilian. Ignited by decisions that he considered erroneous, the Catalan claimed seconds later a card for Witsel in a harsh tackle from behind on Lewandowski, but the protests only earned him a yellow.
In the next play, Cubarsí grabbed the ball from Llorente in the area, a play that was annulled at the end of the action due to offside. It was at that moment when Sánchez Martínez went to send off an incredulous Xavi with a straight red card. “What did I say?” the man from Terrassa said to the fourth referee, who did not answer him.
Xavi was already sent off in the match against Getafe on the first day, so he has accumulated two expulsions as Barça coach, the same as as a Blaugrana, in 2001 against Villarreal and in 2008 against Real Madrid. In addition, this season he has already accumulated 24 yellow cards.
“I try to transmit that intensity to the players,” Xavi said in the past about his attitude on the wing, who at that moment promised to try to lower his heart rate to see so many cards. In the Metropolitano he didn’t get it.