For the fourth week in a row there were five red cards at the weekend, and it seems to be becoming par for the course. Mauro Silva has seen several in his long career, but never a straight red before this weekend. His penalty on Aimar earned him the privilege of being first into the bath, although with the game only twenty minutes old he had hardly had time to work up a sweat. Atlético's Jorge also got his first red card for insulting a linesman out of frustration as his side trailed against bottom club Murcia, an action which can be explained away by his youth. That was not an excuse though for Mallorca's veteran manager Luis Aragonés, who should have known better than to argue with the referee at half time in the match at Barcelona, earning him a second yellow card.

Two bookings as well for Málaga's Duda late in the first half at Zaragoza, and for Real Madrid's young defender Mejía late in the game at Racing. And as usual, lots of absences from next week's matches for accumulation of yellow cards, including Viaud (Albacete), Gato Romero (Málaga), Cuadrado (Murcia) and Schürrer (Real Sociedad) all of whom got their tenth booking, and Aranda (Albacete), García Calvo (Atlético), Rivas (Betis), Bodipo (Racing), Ayala (Valencia) and Alvaro (Zaragoza) all receiving their fifth. (09.03.04)