Five red cards this weekend, three of which came in the relegation struggle between Albacete and Levante. Sergio García and Santi were the first to go after fighting inside the home side's goal as the Levante players tried to take the ball back to the centre spot quickly and Oscar Montiel prevented them from doing so, something that is normally reserved for the school playing field. And Levante's Reggi followed them after insulting the referee's mother near the end. Sergio García will miss his side's match against the club who pay part of his salary, Barcelona, next weekend.

Valencia's Marchena was also shown a straight red for a wicked tackle on Deco, his frustrations evident after he was led a merry dance by Eto'o for Barcelona's first goal. And one of our old favourites Gato Romero was sent for an early bath at Málaga after picking up two bookings in the second half of the match against Villarreal.

The appeals committee were in action midweek, cancelling fifth yellow cards for Zapater and Sissoko and downgrading Lopo's red card to a yellow (see last week's report for details). All three were therefore allowed to play at the weekend. Sissoko's reprieve only lasted one week though as he picked up another booking on Sunday and will have to sit out next weekend's game at Espanyol. He will be joined by Peña (Albacete), Belletti (Barcelona), Cotelo (Getafe) and Moratón (Racing), all of whom picked up their tenth yellow cards, and Luis Fernández (Betis), Regragui (Racing), López Rekarte (Real Sociedad) and Josico (Villarreal), all of whom were shown their fifth. (10.05.05)