As expected, Guti had to sit out the midweek match after insulting the fourth official at the end of last weekend's fixture at Espanyol, joining Samuel and Salgado in the stands. There were only two red cards in day four, Racing's Pierini getting a yellow for arguing and then a red for a hard tackle on Kovacevic in quick succession, rather harshly in the opinion of most commentators, and Numancia's Graff also somewhat unlucky to be picked on by the referee after he and Otxoa sandwiched Wanchope in the match against Málaga. Graff is well known in disciplinary circles though, having been sent off several times when he was at Rayo Vallecano, and with three yellows in as many games before this one, he moves clear at the top of our table. (25.09.04)