Four red cards on the first weekend of the new year, with two of them for Albacete players in their game at Sevilla. Central defender Baudes was less than happy though that he got the red card for an off-the-ball incident in the first half with Darío Silva, a well known play actor, who went down like a ton of bricks when he collided with the player's elbow. Darío's opposite number Aranda has also earned himself a reputation for getting players sent off, but this time he got his come-uppance when he was shown two yellow cards in the second half, the first for protesting and then in the dying minutes for a dive in the penalty area. The ex Real Madrid B striker could be in further trouble though as he told referee Téllez Sánchez that it didn't surprise him that a fan had thrown a mobile telephone at him earlier in the season, the way he was refereeing the match. The reference to the incident in the cup game between Castellón and Valencia, in which the home side's ground was closed as a result, won't go down well with the disciplinary committee.

The other two sendings off were also straight reds, and they went to a couple of players who have often featured on these pages. Villarreal's defender Ballesteros got his marching orders for kicking out at Valencia's Marchena whilst lying on the ground after a bit of argie-bargie between several players, and although it was retaliation, he will probably get a one match ban. Mallorca's Samuel Eto'o was the other villain to take an early bath after he was first booked for protesting, and then shown a straight red for insulting the referee. Although the striker will soon be off to play for Cameroon in the Africa cup, his club will appeal, saying that the player was actually insulting his own mother and not the referee's. Well, it did work for Darío Silva, didn't it? Elsewhere, six players reached the five card threshold and will miss the next match, including Luis García (Murcia), Antonio López (Osasuna), Morán (Racing), Vicente (Valencia) and Coloccini (Villarreal). (06.01.04)