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The Catalans were able to break the deadlock after their opponents were reduced to ten men
Granada defender Dimitri Foulquier has hit out at Barcelona claiming they often benefit from referee decisions after seeing his side beaten 1-0 on Sunday.
Despite being on the back foot for much of the game, Granada looked poised to frustrate the Catalans at Camp Nou only for German Sanchez to be sent off for a second yellow card in 69th minute.
Less than 10 minutes later and Lionel Messi would capitalise on his side’s numerical advantage as Barcelona claimed a vital three points that returned them to the La Liga summit.
The result and red card was a tough pill for Granada to swallow with Foulquier adamant Quique Setien’s side regularly gain an unfair advantage from the officials.
“Whenever we come to the Camp Nou it is the same. We compete, we fight, but they don’t let us,” Foulquier told Movistar Plus.
“When in doubt, the decisions are always in favour of Barcelona. When in doubt, they always call for them.
“They laugh at the little ones and all the effort we make to match their millions.”
Granada manager Diego Martinez took a more diplomatic approach post-match but conceded his side were hard done by to be reduced to 10 men.
“We do not like to value these things but it was very rigorous [the red card], they can beat you anyway because they have quality but that action was quite rigorous, especially because [Arturo] Vidal left without being admonished,” Martinez added.
“It is hard for the decision to be a red card and I feel bad for the players because they have left their soul on the pitch.”
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Granada have enjoyed a fairly successful season to date and now sit 10th after 20 league games. After beating Barcelona 2-0 at home in September, Martinez’s side also managed to hold Atletico Madrid to a 1-1 draw in November.
While the Catalans did benefit from the red card decision, Setien will be happy with what he saw from the team in his first game in charge since replacing Ernesto Valverde.
Barcelona ended the 90 minutes with 83 per cent possession and attempted 1005 passes compared to Granada’s 205.
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