Tenerife's Bichi Fuertes is not having a good couple of weeks. The Argentine striker had his one match ban from a couple of weeks ago suspended pending more evidence, and as the CEDD had still not decided on whether he did dive in the area or not, he was allowed to play in the game at Real Madrid. But ten minutes from the end he got himself booked for protesting, and turned to address the referee. Now maybe in Argentina, the phrase "(a curse on) the whore who gave birth to you" may be a standard expression along the lines of "excuse me do you have a minute, only I don't totally agree with your decision". However here in Spain it goes down badly, and the normally mild mannered Ansuategui Roca whipped out the red card immediately. This time there was no let off, and despite his subsequent apology to the official, the disciplinary committee banned him for one game.

Two other players sent off at the weekend, and both in the game between Málaga and Mallorca. Fernando Sanz got his marching orders for the home side when he got his sports mixed up, producing a first class rugby tackle on Luque as he was advancing on goal late in the game. His red card was preceded by one for the visitors' Engonga, who was close to setting a new record coming on as substitute in the second half and picking up two yellow cards in eight minutes. Mallorca are appealing the first card, and if you base their argument on the referee's official report they could have a point. According to Undiano Mallenco, the first foul was committed in the 64th minute, sixty seconds before he came on the field! Incidentally anyone wanting to read the referees' reports can find them on the federation's official website www.futvol.com, under the section "actas". A good way to learn some new expressions in Spanish, but please don't try them out at home, especially if you have a Spanish speaking au pair.

A lot of players will miss next weekend's matches for accumulation of bookings, including three from Real Madrid. Hierro received his fifteenth yellow card of the season in the league, and Pavón and Guti both received their fifth. Espanyol's Lopo also reached the 15 card mark and will miss his third game of the season, and three players got their tenth, Curro Torres (Valencia), Litos (Málaga) and Deportivo's Duscher, the man who sprang to fame after breaking Beckham's toe. Seven more picked up their fifth caution last week, including Jordi Cruyff (Alavés), Gabri (Barcelona), Sergio and Juanfran (Celta), Jayo (Las Palmas), Prieto (Sevilla) and Galván (Villarreal). (23.04.02)