Villains

Fifth round, second leg of the cup midweek, with three red cards in all. Mallorca's Ballesteros was sent off after giving away a penalty against Deportivo, and Villarreal's Cani got his marching orders after being shown a second yellow card for arguing with the referee as the players came off the pitch at half time. Valladolid's Chema was also sent off for a second bookable offence later in the same match, but by then the second division side had won.

After a weekend where no red cards were shown at all, this Saturday started off with a bang. The game between Atlético Madrid and Osasuna ended with no less than five red cards, one for local coach Javier Aguirre (two yellows for protesting in the first half), and four for the visitors later on from an overzealous Lizondo Cortés. Cuéllar was the first to go, a straight red for giving away a penalty on Fernando Torres (which he missed), and Soldado followed for an elbow on Zé Castro which cost him a two match ban from the disciplinary committee. Goalkeeper Ricardo went for a second yellow card for time wasting (with his side losing!), and Raúl García also got a straight red after stepping back on Seitaridis.

Two more reds as well on Sunday, including one for another coach, Zaragoza's Víctor Fernández, who insulted the referee. And Celta's Contreras was sent for an early bath after picking up two bookings late on at Getafe. They will be joined on the sidelines this weekend by Iriney (Celta), Capdevila and Riki (Deportivo) and Mingo (Gimnastic), who were all shown their fifth yellow cards of the campaign, and by Alexis (Levante), the first player this season to reach the ten yellow card threshold. (23.01.07)

Villains Yellow cards Red cards (straight) Games banned Total points
Diogo (Zaragoza) 9 1 (1) 6 17
Riera (Espanyol) 4 3 (2) 4 13
Angel (Celta) 7 2 (1) 3 13
Gabi Milito (Zaragoza) 7 2 (1) 3 13
Ramos (Real Madrid) 9 1 3 13
Ballesteros (Mallorca) 9 1 (1) 2* 13
Corrales (Osasuna) 8 1 (1) 2 12
Murillo (Athletic) 9 1 2 12
Alexis (Levante) 10 0 2* 12
Luis Fabiano (Sevilla) 4 1 (1) 5 11
Raúl García (Osasuna) 7 1 (1) 2* 11
Pinillos (Racing) 7 1 (1) 2 11
Lopo (Deportivo) 8 1 2 11
Camacho (Levante) 8 1 2 11
Javi Navarro (Sevilla) 8 1 2 11
Zapater (Zaragoza) 8 1 2 11
Vázquez (Celta) 3 2 (2) 3 10
Iriney (Celta) 7 1 2 10
Casquero (Getafe) 8 1 1 10
Alves (Sevilla) 9 0 1 10