Two red cards in the midweek match between Betis and Barcelona, which had been postponed from a couple of weeks ago due to a waterlogged pitch. Barça's keeper Víctor Valdés was the first to go after an off-the-ball incident involving his ex team mate from the Spanish under 21 side, Dani late in the first half. The young striker has a reputation as a bit of a diver, and after falling in the penalty area under a challenge from Reiziger he was standing above the defender trying to pull him back to his feet. Valdés assumed the worst though and pushed Dani away, causing him to fall theatrically backwards to the ground. By now the ball was way upfield, but the referee hauled play back, and under his linesman's recommendation sent off the keeper and awarded a penalty. And Gerard followed him to the dressing rooms a minute from the end for a second bookable offence, leaving the visitors with nine men. Valdés did have some relief though when the disciplinary committee downgraded the card to a yellow, allowing him to play at the weekend.

Five more red cards at the weekend, including both Zaragoza full backs in their match at Athletic Bilbao. Milito was sent off for a flying elbow (a bit harsh considering that local defender Del Horno had broken Cani's nose in a similar incident in the first half without even getting a yellow card), and Alvaro for a hard tackle. Celta substitute Sylvinho was only on the park for nine minutes before he got himself sent off for a trip from behind on an opponent, and Albacete manager César Ferrando was shown a red card for waving his arms around and shouting in a loud voice in the same game. Finally Real Madrid's Pavón was probably a bit unlucky to get a second booking after a challenge on Atlético Madrid's Nikolaidis at the beginning of the second half in the derby match, the incident appearing to be six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Elsewhere Osasuna's Puñal became the first player to complete the third cycle of five yellow cards, and he will miss the next match at the weekend. He will be joined by Atlético's Gaspar and Lequi, Málaga's Josemi (who was let off a suspension last week), Valencia's Albelda and Zaragoza's Galletti, all of whom picked up their tenth card, and Maxi (Espanyol), Neru (Racing) and Cuartero (Zaragoza), all with five. For those of you who are counting, that makes four Zaragoza players (at least by our reckoning) who will miss their next home game against Sevilla. (20.04.04)