Villains

No less than eight red cards this weekend, the first two on Saturday for Getafe's Manu and Levante's Xisco Nadal (who was warming up on the touchline) for fighting after Getafe failed to put the ball out of play with a Levante player injured. Later in the evening Hércules midfielder Farinós spoilt his comeback after a long injury lay-off with two bookings in quick succession against Barcelona, and Sevilla keeper Palop was red-carded early in the second half of the match at Deportivo for handling outside of the area. On Sunday Atlético Madrid's Perea got his marching orders for giving away an early penalty against Athletic Bilbao, and another three red cards in the Monday night game between Racing Santander and Valencia, one each for substitute David Navarro (still on the bench) and Lacen for protesting, and one for Ricardo Costa for a second bookable offence. Another twelve players will also miss the next round of matches after picking up their fifth bookings, Carlos García (Almería), Javi Martínez (Athletic), Duscher (Espanyol), Dani Parejo (Getafe), Caicedo (Levante), Nunes, Joao Victor and Webó (all Mallorca), Rosenberg (Racing), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) and Dabo (Sevilla). (02.02.11)

PS Three of the red cards were cancelled on appeal. The disciplinary committee agreed that Xisco Nadal did not grab Manu by the throat and let him off his red card entirely. And after a lot of confusion, Lacen and David Navarro were also pardoned, both players just being given a caution instead. (04.02.11)

Villains Yellow cards Red cards (straight) Games banned Total points
Ponzio (Zaragoza) 10 2 (1) 3 16
David Navarro (Valencia) 8 2 (1) 3* 14
Boateng (Getafe) 11 1 2 14
Botía (Sporting) 9 1 (1) 2 13
Arbeloa (Real Madrid) 9 2 2 13
Perea (Atlético) 9 1 (1) 2* 13
Vargas (Almería) 10 1 2 13
Forlín (Espanyol) 10 1 2 13
Alexis (Sevilla) 10 1 2 13
Puñal (Osasuna) 11 0 2 13
Cata Díaz (Getafe) 8 1 (1) 2 12
Eliseu (Málaga) 8 1 (1) 2 12
Piqué (Barcelona) 9 1 2 12
Rafa (Getafe) 9 1 2 12
Pepe (Real Madrid) 9 1 2 12
Borja Valero (Villarreal) 9 1 2 12
Gurpegui (Athletic) 11 0 1 12