Nine red cards in the first leg ties of the Copa del Rey last weekend, five of which were for first division players. Almería's Christian, Osasuna's Raoul Loe and Valencia's Jonas were all sent off for second bookable offences, and Málaga's Camacho and Sevilla's Coke got their marching orders after picking up straight reds. Coke and Jonas both aggravated their situations though by insulting the officials, the former getting his red card and a two match ban for telling the referee quite explicitly where to stick his yellow card after he was booked, and the latter earning himself a three match suspension for calling the fourth official a "bobo" as he left the field. The other four red cards were for members of Valladolid's and Lleida's technical staff, as well as for Lleida keeper Pau Torres after giving away an early penalty against Betis, and Las Palmas midfielder Nauzet, who was also given a two match ban. All sentences must be served out in the same competition.

The league programme returned this weekend, with another six red cards, including one each for members of Almería's and Espanyol's coaching staff. All the others were for second bookable offences, the first for Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos shortly before half time in their game at Osasuna. The second yellow card was fairly clear, the defender catching an opponent with an elbow in an off-the-ball incident, but the first was much less so, and the disciplinary committee decided to cancel the card and the subsequent one match ban. Whatever the case, it was Ramos's 18th red card of his career, something of a record! Later in the same game Osasuna's Gato Silva was also sent to join Ramos in the bath, and elsewhere there were red cards for Rayo Vallecano's Nacho and Celta's Charles, who got a hotly disputed second booking for what referee José Antonio Teixeira Vitienes considered to be an illegal block on a clearance by Valladolid keeper Diego Mariño. From television pictures it looked as if Mariño kicked the ball straight at him when his back was turned, but so far the disciplinary committee has ratified the decision.

All will in any case sit out the last round of games of the year together with seven other players who reached the five yellow card mark, including such big names as Neymar (Barcelona), Pepe (Real Madrid), Eliseu (Málaga), M'Bia (Sevilla), Xumetra (Levante), Arribas (Osasuna) and Hugo Mallo (Celta). (18.12.13)

(* suspension pending disciplinary meeting decision)

Villains Yellow cards Red cards (straight) Games banned Total points
Filipe Luis (Atlético) 7 2 (1) 3 13
Víctor Sánchez (Espanyol) 8 2 2 12
Gálvez (Rayo Vallecano) 9 1 2 12
Ramos (Real Madrid) 8 1 2* 11
Cala (Sevilla) 8 1 2 11
Botía (Elche) 10 0 1 11
Christian (Almería) 5 2 (1) 2* 10
Saúl (Rayo Vallecano) 7 1 2 10
M'Bia (Sevilla) 7 1 2* 10
Ebert (Valladolid) 7 1 2 10
Arda Turan (Atlético) 4 1 (1) 2 8
Iturra (Granada) 6 1 1 8
Silva (Osasuna) 6 1 1* 8
Rafinha (Celta) 7 0 1 8
Cejudo (Osasuna) 3 1 3 7
Lass (Rayo Vallecano) 3 1 (1) 2 7
Damià (Osasuna) 4 1 (1) 1 7
Puñal (Osasuna) 4 1 (1) 1 7
Coke (Sevilla) 4 1 (1) 1* 7
Dubarbier (Almería) 5 1 1 7
Chica (Betis) 5 1 1 7
Oubiña (Celta) 5 1 1 7
Cisma (Elche) 5 1 1 7
Carlos Sánchez (Elche) 5 1 1 7
Diakhaté (Granada) 5 1 1 7
Nacho (Rayo Vallecano) 5 1 1* 7