Fun and games in the Nou Camp on Monday, where a referee who was considered by many to be lenient ended up showing thirteen yellow cards and one red! The millions who were watching will know that the red card was for Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos for a crunching tackle on Messi late on, the incident sparking off a fracas between the players which ended with Ramos clashing with his Spanish team mates Puyol and Xavi. Luckily for the Real Madrid defender, Iturralde González didn't mention the incident in his report, and the player was only given a one match ban.

A bit of argy-bargy too at the end of the Saturday game between Atlético Madrid and Espanyol, Atlético coach Quique Sánchez Flores losing it completely after accusing Luis García of play-acting. Quique went for García after the final whistle, and only the restraining arms of Kameni prevented him from a worse misdemeanour. This time though the referee did report it, and the manager was given a two-match suspension. Apart from that there was only one other red card this weekend, Zaragoza's Contini getting his marching orders for a second booking in the game against Villarreal. He will be joined on the sidelines next weekend by Ander Herrera, one of five players to pick up a fifth booking of the season. The other four were Juanma Ortíz (Almería), Tiago (Atlético Madrid), Verdú (Espanyol) and Carvalho (Real Madrid). (01.12.10)