Villains

All the fun and games came in one match this weekend, with Rubinos Pérez managing to produce no less than five red cards for Málaga players and staff in an action packed match at Valencia. The first came with only 15 minutes on the clock, Demichelis making a late bid to win our "Villains" award this season after he was sent off for giving away a penalty on Mata. The Argentinian defender had already picked up three bookings in a row since joining the club at the beginning of this month. Then his central defensive partner Helder was also red carded midway through the second half for what the referee considered to be a rude gesture at a linesman, and his coach Pellegrini followed a few minutes later for protesting some of the referee's decisions. Still Málaga pegged the game back to 3-3 until the last minute, when Aduríz snatched a winner for the home side. That sparked off a general protest from the Andalusians, and as the players were leaving the field Apoño and Weligton both seriously insulted the officials, earning them a special mention in the referee's report. The disciplinary committee let Helder off as video evidence proved he was innocent, but the rest had the book thrown at them, with Apoño and Weligton in particular given two match bans. Apoño will in fact miss the next three games as he also picked up his fifth booking of the season earlier on, as did the following players in other matches: Raúl García (Atlético), Ramis (Mallorca), Mikel González (Real Sociedad), Kanouté (Sevilla) and Contini (Zaragoza). (26.01.11)

Villains Yellow cards Red cards (straight) Games banned Total points
Ponzio (Zaragoza) 9 2 (1) 3 15
Boateng (Getafe) 11 1 2 14
Botía (Sporting) 9 1 (1) 2 13
Forlín (Espanyol) 10 1 2 13
Arbeloa (Real Madrid) 8 2 2 12
Cata Díaz (Getafe) 8 1 (1) 2 12
Eliseu (Málaga) 8 1 (1) 2 12
Vargas (Almería) 9 1 2 12
Piqué (Barcelona) 9 1 2 12
Rafa (Getafe) 9 1 2 12
Pepe (Real Madrid) 9 1 2 12
Alexis (Sevilla) 9 1 2 12
Puñal (Osasuna) 10 0 2 12
Gurpegui (Athletic) 11 0 1 12
Weligton (Málaga) 5 2 (1) 3* 11
Carlos García (Almería) 7 1 (1) 2* 11
Musacchio (Villarreal) 7 1 (1) 2 11
Carvalho (Real Madrid) 8 1 2 11
Borja Valero (Villarreal) 8 1 2 11
Contini (Zaragoza) 8 1 2* 11