Five red cards this weekend, starting with Espanyol's Zabaleta, who was shown two yellow cards in Saturday's game against Sevilla. The following day three other players were sent off for second bookable offences, including Mallorca's Nunes, Atlético's Raúl García and Recreativo's Beto, who got his second caution for taking off his shirt in celebration after scoring against Deportivo. Silly rule, but the Portuguese defender should have known better.

Finally Valencia's David Villa was sent off with a straight red after hacking Getafe's De la Red down from behind after the ball had gone, his second red card of the season. Villa made matters worse by making an insulting gesture at the crowd on his way off, earning himself an additional booking.

A further eleven players will miss next weekend's games after completing the five yellow card cycle, including Felipe Melo and Pulido (Almería), Agüero and Pablo (Atlético Madrid), Riki (Deportivo), De la Peña (Espanyol), Riki (Getafe), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Cáceres (Recreativo) and Poulsen (Sevilla). For Melo and Pablo it was their tenth booking of the season, and Zaragoza's Diogo also picked up a tenth yellow card, even though it seems it was later cancelled on appeal. (19.02.08)