Barcelona’s opening La Liga game of the 2023/24 season was far from ideal as they were held to a goalless draw by Getafe away at Coliseum Alfonso Perez.
The game saw Brazilian winger Raphinha get sent off in the final stages of the first half for landing an elbow on opponent player Gaston Alvarez.
As such, it is expected that the 26-year-old attacker will be handed a two-match ban for the incident against Getafe.
Barcelona want to reduce Raphinha’s ban
Now, though, according to Ferran Correas of SPORT, Barcelona are already taking steps to try and ensure that Raphinha is not banned for two games or more.
Following the departure of Ousmane Dembele last week, Raphinha has become an even more integral member of the team for Xavi Hernandez and Barça,
As such, it is not surprising to see the reigning champs take measures to try and limit his suspension to the minimum possible.
To that end, Barça will lodge an appeal to try and stop the Brazilian international from being suspended for two matches.
The Blaugrana reportedly plan to cite two reasons to support their argument for Raphinha to be not suspended for two games.
For starters, Barça will present images that show that Raphinha was provoked by several Getafe players before his elbow on Gastón.
While their player may have lost his cool, the Blaugrana wish to highlight the underhand tactics deployed by Getafe stars and how the latter had crossed their limits on more than one occasion.
In addition, Barça also consider that referee Soto Grado was not accurate in the drafting of the official match report.
While the referee wrote up that the Brazilian’s action took place “when the ball was in play but not in dispute”, the Catalans have remarked that the incident took place during a move by the attacker to receive the ball.
It will be interesting to see if Barcelona are successful in their efforts to reduce Raphinha’s ban.
For now, though, he is set to miss the matches against Cadiz and Villarreal. The likes of Ferran Torres, Lamine Yamal, and Ez Abde could be options for Xavi to replace the Brazilian.
