As expected, the disciplinary committee let David Beckham off his red card from the weekend, and the England captain was able to play at Deportivo. Although they didn't necessarily agree with Real Madrid's argument that the player didn't applaud the referee, they felt that it was all part of the protest which earned him the yellow card, and that was punishment enough. The decision upset Barcelona though, who had their own appeal against Messi's yellow card turned down despite sending in video evidence that the youngster was tripped in the penalty area and was not play acting.

Four players sent off in the midweek round of matches, including two this time from Betis. Joaquín was the first to go for a second yellow card after protesting a dubious penalty, and Melli followed a few minutes later. There was a lot of difference between what the referee reported that he said though ("I sh*t on your dead ancestors") and what the player said he said ("I say referee, don't you think you have made a mistake awarding a goal kick there?"). Appeals are pending. Elsewhere Alavés defender Sarriegi was shown a straight red two thirds of the way through the game against Espanyol, and Celta's Contreras was given a second booking round about the same time in the match at Mallorca. Finally Getafe's Pernía will miss the weekend game against Deportivo after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season. (29.10.05)