The villains were out early this week, and if the British tabloid press is anything to go by they were all playing for Deportivo at Old Trafford. Duscher's shocking tackle on Beckham picked up all the headlines, and reporters with heavy Manchester accents were seen sniffing around Gallicia all week, asking the startled Argentinian to sign statements in a language he didn't understand for subsequent publication. Yes it was a bad tackle and yes Becks is a vital part of Eriksson's plans, but suggestions that it was part of an Argentine plot to undermine England's World Cup hopes was as ridiculous as the Rayo Vallecano lady president who is accusing the Spanish government of being behind the recent bad refereeing decisions. Duscher and his compatriot Scaloni both got their marching orders in the end as Depor crashed out of the Champions League at the quarter final stage.

A record number of red cards in the league this weekend, with seven players in all getting their marching orders. Two of them came in the game between Real Sociedad and Málaga, with a pair of old favourites Idiakez and Darío Silva putting in their respective bids for villain of the year, the Basque with his second sending off of the season and the Uruguayan with his third. They move up into joint third place in our table, behind Luccin and Quique Alvarez who picked up a yellow each in their respective games. Two reds as well in the Deportivo v Espanyol game, with Soldevilla getting a straight red for bringing down Djalminha from behind and Mauro Silva picking up a second yellow late in the game. He will be sorely missed for Depor's game at Valencia next week, and they are hoping that their appeal will be upheld to allow him to play. Iván Helguera was another well known player to go after he tripped Osasuna's Iván Rosado as he advanced on the Real Madrid goal just before half time, and Villarreal's Berruet and Sevilla's Fredi left their respective sides with ten men after receiving second bookings.

After all that there were only four more players who reached the suspension limit this weekend for multiple yellow cards. One was Alfredo, the scorer of Osasuna's best goal against Madrid, who reached the ten card barrier during the match. Villarreal's Amor also got his tenth booking of the season and Astudillo (Alavés) and Eto'o (Mallorca) got their fifth. Eto'o could be in deeper trouble though as the referee reported him and Valencia's Curro Torres for pushing each other after the game, and more importantly the TV cameras caught him head-butting Angulo after the two had also come to blows earlier on. Earlier in the week the disciplinary committee cancelled last week's yellow cards for Lainez and Juanele (Zaragoza) and Puñal (Osasuna), and later on the CEDD let Tenerife's Bichi Fuertes off his one match ban, allowing him to play against Betis. Good thing for them too; he scored the winning goal. (15.04.02)