The highest tally of red cards this season at the weekend, although no less than five of the nine were for coaching staff! Both managers, Medilibar and Ziganda, were sent to the stands in the game between Valladolid and Xerez, and Depor coach Lotina also saw red, as did Zaragoza's Marcelino and his team's physical trainer.

Compared to that the players were "angelitos", with only four of them making it to the bath before their colleagues. Two of those were for Deportivo men, Riki and Sergio getting sent off in the first and second haves respectively after picking up two yellow cards each, and Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos was shown his nth red card for a foul on Agüero in the city derby.

Elsewhere Xerez's David Prieto felt himself hard done by when he was shown a second yellow card late in the game at Valladolid, particularly as he was nowhere near the incident that provoked the booking (we cannot tell a lie - it was Bermejo!). The disciplinary committee agreed though and cancelled the caution, even though the damage was already done.

The rest though will serve out a one match ban, although for those who received straight reds it was unclear whether they would have to serve out the sentence in the midweek cup matches or at the weekend. Crusat (Almería) and Ayala (Zaragoza) will also have to miss the next round of league games after picking up their fifth bookings of the season, although Crusat's ban is pretty academic as he picked up a serious injury later on in the game and may be out for some time. (10.11.09)