Two red cards in an exciting cup final midweek, with Zaragoza's Cani getting his marching orders for a second bookable offence in the second half and Real Madrid's Guti following him in extra time for the same reason. Referee Carmona Méndez went way over the top though, showing 17 yellow cards in a match which wasn't all that dirty.

Four more red cards at the weekend, including one for Jaime González, a memeber of Sevilla's technical staff for insulting an official. Two of the sendings off came in the game between Racing and Celta, where Regueiro got his marching orders in the first half and Velasco after the break, both for second bookable offences.

Villarreal's Battaglia was shown a straight red as well for a hard tackle on an opponent, although the appeals committee thought that referee Rubinos Pérez was a bit too strict and downgraded it to a yellow. Battaglia still misses next weekend's games though as it was his fifth booking of the season, as do his colleagues Riquelme and José Marí (who picked up his tenth booking). Figo (Real Madrid), Varela (Betis) and Generelo (Zaragoza) will also be out for their respective matches for the same reason. (23.03.04) .