Ronald Koeman blasts Spanish refereeing after red card vs Cadiz

Under-fire Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has claimed that he is an innocent man, despite being sent off at the end of his side's 0-0 draw with Cadiz on Thursday night.

Barça were poor throughout the game, having just six shots against a side that finished 12th in La Liga last season. Their task was made harder when Frenkie de Jong was sent off for a second bookable offence just after the hour mark, and the Blaugrana would also have their manager dismissed at the final whistle.

Koeman was given his marching orders after protesting a yellow card given to Sergio Busquets - though he had been remonstrating with the referee for most of the game.

Speaking after the match, the Dutchman denied any wrongdoing, insisting he was sent off for simply removing an extra ball from the pitch.

"In this country they send you off for nothing," Koeman remarked. "Everybody saw that there was a second ball on the pitch except the referee."

Despite the poor result, Koeman went on to claim that his side had played well against Cadiz.

"In general, the team played well. We had a lot of possession," he added.

"It was difficult to create many chances but we did have the best ones in the game right down to the last minute. And with Memphis in the last minute, even with one less player, I would never complain about the attitude of the players today.

"It’s very difficult. You have to have a lot of creativity here and in this game maybe we were missing the last pass. It was a game where we thought we would score but if you don’t score, you don’t win games."

Koeman is widely expected to be sacked imminently with 90min understanding that Leicester City's Brendan Rodgers is among a pool of replacements being considered. However, once again, when quizzed about his future at the La Liga giants he refused to give anything away.