The quarter final cup tie between Sevilla and Osasuna threatened to be a monumental battle after serious problems in matches involving the two sides recently, but apart from the odd handbag at ten paces in the final minutes there was nothing much to report. The two sides meet each other though in the second leg later this week, and with the fixture evenly balanced their could still be some fireworks (and we are not referring to the sort which were let off after the game between Gramanet and Betis).

Four red cards at the weekend, two of which were for Málaga players in their match at Zaragoza. Edgar was the first to go for a two-footed tackle which left Cani in hospital, and Duda followed him later in the second half for a second bookable offence. Two players were sent off as well in the match between Racing Santander and Levante, but in this case it was one on each side. Pinillos was the first to go after picking up a second yellow card in the second half, and Juanma (the Racing one that is) followed him after a hospital pass from a colleague gifted the ball to Congo, leaving him no option but to slice down the Colombian striker to prevent him from scoring.

Five more players will be sitting out the weekend's games after picking up their fifth bookings of the season, including Luccin (Atlético Madrid), Tamudo (Espanyol), Pernía (Getafe), Tevenet (Numancia) and the unfortunate Cani (Zaragoza), who probably wouldn't have been able to play anyway after the aforementioned clash with Edgar. (01.02.05)