Two of last week's red cards were over-turned by the appeals committees this week, one of Lembo's yellow cards being cancelled and Aitor Ocio's sending off for a second bookable offence being put on hold pending further investigation by the CEDD ruling body. The two red cards shown to Albacete manager José González and to the Sevilla assistant coach Antonio Alvarez were also downgraded to yellows, although it didn't help González as he was fired by his club this weekend after they lost to Numancia.

A quiet week this week after last weekend's record haul of suspensions, with only two red cards and a further six players facing one match bans for accumulation of bookings. Espanyol's Alex Fernández was the first to go after picking up two yellow cards with just over half an hour gone in the match at Málaga, and Albacete's Jaime was shown a straight red for saying to the referee "que jeta tienes, macho!" (literally what a snout you have, tough guy!, but metaphorically meaning you have a real nerve), not a nice thing to say to someone in Spain.

Deportivo's Duscher and Scaloni and Real Madrid's Helguera will all be sitting out the match between the two sides next weekend after picking up their fifth yellow cards of the season, and they will be joined by Ros (Numancia), Luiz Alberto (Real Sociedad) and Savio (Zaragoza). Atlético Madrid's Marcelo Sosa is in trouble too, but this time with his own club after fighting with a supporter after their last match. (21.02.05)