We said last week that Espanyol were already rewriting the record books, and if they go on at this rate they will have a volume all to themselves. The Catalans picked up two more reds this weekend to make it nine in thirteen games, even though this time they can blame some dubious refereeing for the fact that they ended with nine men. Soldevilla was the first to go after referee Teixeira Vitienes ruled that Soldevilla had pushed over Albacete's Aranda in the penalty area, and Torricelli followed him after the break when he picked up a second booking for a foul on the ex Real Madrid striker. The real villain though was probably Aranda himself, who made a meal of both incidents and also knocked the ball on with his hand when he scored the winner.

Two players were also sent off in the game between Sevilla and Celta, visiting defender Berizzo for a second bookable offence and local substitute Hornos, who lost his cool with Cavallero after he held on to the ball to waste time near the end. The Argentine keeper was lucky though to get off with a yellow in the same incident as both swung their handbags at each other furiously. The fifth and final red card of the day was for Deportivo's Mauro Silva, who was shown a second yellow card just before half time against Villarreal and probably cost his side the game. Other than the above, only three players will be suspended for the midweek round of games, Milosevic (Celta), Fernando Niño (Mallorca) and Acciari (Murcia) all reaching the five card threshold. (01.12.03)