Peace and goodwill to all men, except referees it seems! The "Manolos", Sevilla and Sporting Gijón coaches Jiménez and Preciado, were both shown red cards this weekend for insulting the officials in their respective matches!

Only two sendings off on the field of play though, with Valencia defender Marchena getting his marching orders for the second time this season after a second bookable offence in the match against Real Madrid on Saturday.

The following day Piqué became the first Barcelona player to be shown a red card this campaign, although the disciplinary committee overturned the referee's decision after deciding that the second caution was not valid.

as well as Marchena, seven players will miss the opening game of 2009 after picking up their fifth yellow cards of the season, including Juanito (Almería), David López (Athletic), Colsa (Racing), Carmelo and Matabuena (Sporting) and Marcos and Vivar Dorado (Valladolid). (23.12.08)