The handbags were flying at the end of the match between Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao, with referee Clos Gómez forced to take action to calm things down. Javi Martínez caught Godín with a loose elbow two minutes before the final whistle, and the Uruguayan defender retaliated with his studs in his opponents back whilst both lay on the ground. Red cards for the two players, and in the ensuing argy-bargy Athletic coach Caparrós was also red-carded after he went after Godín as he left the field. The red mist descended, and Orbaiz was also sent off for a second bookable offence after bringing down Marco Rubén and then grabbing him by the hair on the ground, aggravating his situation by then accosting the referee. The disciplinary committee let Orbaiz off his second booking, but then gave him another for his attack on Rubén and a red as well for pushing Clos Gómez. When the dust settles we'll confirm how it all pans out, but our understanding is that he will in any case have to serve out a one match ban for his fifth booking of the season and another for the red card.

Other than that there were three more reds this weekend, Antonio Tomás (Deportivo) and Ander Herrera (Zaragoza) for aggressive tackles, and Tchité (Racing Santander) for making the "Biggles" sign to the referee (fingers in the shape of glasses). Racing appealed, but the disciplinary committee said that it was a serious offence to suggest that the referee was blind, and could not therefore do his job! Funny, never seems to have stopped them in the past? Some suggested that Tchité was only trying to force a fifth yellow card so he could serve out his one match ban at the Nou Camp, where the Cantabrians had apparently already given up the game for lost - Colsa and Munitis had already picked up their fifth bookings early on - but coach Portugal denied he had given instructions to that effect. In any case all three will be missing next weekend, as will Bernadello (Almería) and Diogo (Zaragoza), who also picked up their fifth bookings, and Soldado (Getafe), who picked up his tenth. Surprisingly the Spanish international striker is the first to complete the second cycle of yellow cards, beating several of the more usual suspects to that level. (16.02.10)

PS We forgot to mention the cup semi-finals, where two more red cards were shown. Racing's Cristian was given his marching orders midway through the second half of the tie against Atlético Madrid for a foul on an opponent, although the game was probably lost by then. And Sevilla coach Manolo Jiménez was also sent off for protesting in the game at Getafe, although his red card was later overturned by the disciplinary committee.