Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said he did not ask Sergio Busquets to instigate any incident during Barcelona's 1-0 win over Celta Vigo.
Celta Vigo's Fabian Orellana was sent off late on for hurling some turf at Sergio Busquets, after the Blaugrana midfielder took an age to take a free kick. Busquets was also booked in the incident, meaning he will miss Wednesday's home game against struggling Almeria, and then be free for the tougher looking trip to Sevilla next weekend.
"We never ask our players to force a yellow card," said Luis Enrique on Tuesday when asked if he had requested his player to deliberately get booked and miss the seemingly easier-on-paper game. "I didn't ask him to force it, but rather I told him to be careful about getting booked."
Barcelona remain four points clear of Real Madrid at the top. They struggled for large parts of the game against coach Luis Enrique's former club, who were reduced to 10 men in the closing minutes after Orellana was shown the straight red card for throwing the turf at Busquets.
Celta midfielder Pablo Hernandez could not contain his disgust over Busquets' tactics.
"How can he have seven fakes and take more than a minute for a free kick?" the Chile international said. "It hurts because he is mocking us. We are colleagues and he should show us respect."
Hernandez called upon Celta's administration to launch a formal complaint over the officiating.
"It is obvious, anyone can watch the replay. You could just see it. The small details make a big difference. Barcelona had the advantage after that. There are others who need to speak on our behalf because we need to focus on playing. The club's leadership will know what to do and how to have an impact."