As expected, the disciplinary committee let Angulo off his second yellow card from last week's match, although only on appeal after he was given a ban earlier in the week. They apparently want to clamp down on player celebrations, especially after the Palermo incident where the player broke his leg when the wall collapsed on him due to pressure from the fans.

Four more red cards this week, three of which went to Alavés players in their game against Athletic Bilbao. Magno got the first for apparently elbowing Lacruz, and Rubén Navarro and Téllez both picked up double bookings, Navarro on the stroke of half time and Téllez in a penalty incident in the second half. Téllez remember was our top villain in each of the last two seasons, and even supposing he is only given a one-match ban he is closing in on the leaders. Pablo also became the first player this season to pick up fifteen yellow cards in the league, completing the third suspension cycle, and the Vitoria based side could be missing four players for their visit to Espanyol. The disciplinary committee are however in for a long session after Alavés said they intended to appeal some of the decisions.

The other red card was for Rayo's Pablo Sanz, who picked up a second yellow card in the second half of their game against Valencia. Nine other players will probably pick up bans next week for accumulation of yellow cards. Paqui (Las Palmas) picked up his tenth yellow of the season, and seven others picked up their fifth, including Xavi (Barcelona), Denilson (Betis), Mauro Silva (Deportivo), Nadal (Mallorca), Yanguas (Osasuna), Aranburu (Real Sociedad), Jaime (Tenerife) and De los Santos (Valencia). Betis at least are hoping to appeal, as they desperately need Denilson for their local derby game against Sevilla this weekend. (18.03.02)