Sergio Busquets explains why Clement Lenglet should not have been sent off against Girona

Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets was quick to defend Clement Lenglet after the Frenchman was sent off on his first La Liga start for the Spanish champions.

Busquets was not happy with the decision which saw Lenglet walk, or the use of VAR and felt the whole game changed after the defender’s early dismissal.

“Maybe there’s contact, you can see that in the images, but the ball’s on the ground and the movement Clement makes is a natural one,” he said.

”It’s not an act of aggression, he wasn’t looking to do that. Even the Girona player apologised because he made a foul. VAR has to be used in the correct way and with consistent criteria.

”Until the red card things were going well for us. After that, with one man less, it’s harder, especially when we go behind. We tried, we got level again and we looked for the win… but it was tough with one less.

”It’s a different game (with 10), we were good 11 against 11, we could have scored more goals. But going down to 10 left us up against it. We all like to play well and win, above all to win… so we will try to improve.”

Barcelona went from 1-0 up to 2-1 down after Lenglet’s sending off. Gerard Pique popped up with the equaliser for the hosts in an entertaining match at the Camp Nou.

Ernesto Valverde’s side take on Leganes next in La Liga on Wednesday, and then face Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.