The midweek round of matches produced seven red cards, although three of those were for Atlético Madrid players in the scandalous match with Sevilla. Luccin was the first to go for a second bookable offence (he now tops our table), and when the match restarted after the stoppage (see white stick section for details), Perea and Petrov were also sent off after picking up two bookings each. Petrov was let off one by the disciplinary committee though, and was available to play at the weekend.

There were two straight red cards as well for Málaga players at the end of the match with Deportivo, Juan Rodríguez for reportedly head-butting an opponent in a brawl, and Alexis for grabbing referee Lizondo Cortés by the shirt in the same incident to tell him "esto es una vergüenza!". Elsewhere Racing's Pinillos got his marching orders for a two footed tackle with only half an hour gone at Betis, and Valencia's Angulo was sent for an early bath two minutes before the break for a second bookable offence.

Another eleven players will miss the weekend games for accumulation of yellow cards, including Gurpegui (Athletic) and Puñal (Osasuna), both of whom picked up their tenth, and Puyol (Barcelona), Juanito (Betis), Estoyanoff (Cádiz), Morales (Málaga), Ballesteros (Mallorca), Cuéllar (Osasuna), Mejía (Real Madrid), Marchena (Valencia), and Tacchinardi (Villarreal), all of whom were shown their fifth. Puyol's booking came at a convenient time as it allows him to sit out the game at Málaga and return in time for the "derby" with Real Madrid. Not that he did it deliberately of course! ((25.03.06)