Cup quarter finals midweek, with players basically keeping calm despite the excitement of the day. The only place where bookings were prevalent was at Osasuna, where the icy conditions meant that control was difficult. Even so the referee went over the top, and by the law of statistics it was obvious that someone was going to get booked for the second time. That privilege fell to Sevilla's Torrado, who had to leave the field near the end of extra time.

After a couple of weeks playing "angelitos" the villains were out in force again at the weekend, with six red cards over the ten games. The first two came in the opening match on Saturday, with Atlético's José Marí and Barcelona's Rochemback trading handbag blows at three paces. Both left the field though the best of chums once the red mist had died down. A straight red too for Real Sociedad's Nihat, who must have felt hard done by after he and his fellow strikers were constantly provoked by the Athletic Bilbao defence without any action from the referee (see white stick section). His tackle though on Alkiza would not have been out of place in a Kung Fu film. De Pedro could also be in trouble as TV cameras caught him deliberately stepping on the noble parts belonging to Athletic right back Javi González. If the disciplinary committee don't take any action, González's girl friend might!

Espanyol's Alex Fernández was only on the pitch for twenty-two minutes as substitute before he picked up two cautions and consequently got his third red card of the season. He was less lucky though than some of his team mates, including new man Torricelli, who stayed on the pitch despite using every tactic in the book (but don't ask us which book) to stop the Real Madrid forwards. Racing's Arzeno has been complaining all season that he had not been given a chance, but when Piterman put him in the side he hardly made the best of it, getting himself red-carded for a second bookable offence late in the game. Rayo's Azkoitia did the same, his second sending-off of the season, in their match at Alavés. As usual several players will be suspended next week after reaching the five yellow card limit, including Contra and Fernando Torres (Atlético), Mateo (Osasuna), Ismael (Racing), and Michel Salgado (Real Madrid). (04.02.03)