Villains

A frustrating evening in the cup for Getafe and Valencia ended with both Miku and Joaquín shown red cards at the end of their respective games for insulting the officials. Both have been given two match bans as a result, which they must now serve out in the next league games. There were red cards as well for Málaga's Weligton and Almería's Vargas, both for second bookable offences, and for Córdoba's Tena for a foul on Deportivo's Valerón.

Only two red cards to report at the weekend, one for Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido and one for his midfielder Cani, who had already been substituted. Both came as a result of protesting, Garrido against what he considered to be an offside position by Ronaldo when he scored Madrid's (and his own) third, and Cani's for reacting to what his club called "provocation" by Real Madrid's José Mourinho, who made jubilant gestures at the visiting bench after Kaká scored the fourth. Cani threw out a plastic bottle from the dugout, but the disciplinary committee decided that it was not that serious, and downgraded his red card to a yellow. After the match Mourinho defended himself saying his gestures were directed at his son, who was sitting behind the dugout. This was picked up by sceptical Villarreal fans, who quickly produced T-shirts with the logo "I'm a son of Mourinho..."!

Eight more players will sit out next weekend's games after completing the five yellow card cycle, including Osasuna's Puñal, the first this season to make it to ten bookings. The others were San José (Athletic), Rubén Pérez (Deportivo), Ballesteros and Juanfran (Levante), José Angel (Sporting), Aduríz (Valencia) and Cazorla (Villarreal). Cazorla's team-mate Bruno also picked up a fifth booking, but it was cancelled on appeal. (12.01.11)

Villains Yellow cards Red cards (straight) Games banned Total points
Ponzio (Zaragoza) 8 2 (1) 3 14
Botía (Sporting) 9 1 (1) 2 13
Boateng (Getafe) 10 1 2 13
Eliseu (Málaga) 8 1 (1) 2 12
Piqué (Barcelona) 9 1 2 12
Forlín (Espanyol) 9 1 2 12
Pepe (Real Madrid) 9 1 2 12
Gurpegui (Athletic) 11 0 1 12
Puñal (Osasuna) 10 0 2* 12
Arbeloa (Real Madrid) 7 2 2 11
Cata Díaz (Getafe) 7 1 (1) 2 11
Vargas (Almería) 8 1 2* 11
Rafa (Getafe) 8 1 2 11
Carvalho (Real Madrid) 8 1 2 11
Borja Valero (Villarreal) 8 1 2 11
Albelda (Valencia) 7 0 3 10
Aguilar (Hércules) 5 2 (1) 2 10
Víctor Ruíz (Espanyol) 7 1 2 10
David Navarro (Valencia) 7 1 2 10