The old “clásicos” are usually good for a red card or two, and the latest one was no exception, with Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos getting his marching orders for giving away a penalty on Barcelona’s Neymar midway through the second half. If we are not mistaken that was the 19 th of his career, and the disciplinary committee opened an enquiry into remarks both he and Cristiano Ronaldo made about the referee and a possible “conspiracy” after the defeat.

Elsewhere there were four more red cards for players, the first for Málaga’s Duda for kicking out in retaliation at Celta’s Rafinha. That has cost him a four match suspension, subject to appeal. Elche’s Sapunaru (the man who set a new record for bookings last season whilst at Zaragoza) got his marching orders for a second bookable offence at Granada, and Levante’s Víctor Casadesús was sent off for a reckless tackle on Espanyol’s Córdoba, his second red card since joining the club at the end of January. Betis striker Braian Rodríguez was salso ent for an early bath after he was shown two yellow cards in the match against Atlético Madrid, the second for a rather stupid hand ball.

On the manager front there were another three reds, one each for Osasuna coach Javi Gracia and his assistant (both received two match bans), and one for Almería boss Francisco, in his case for a second booking. They will be joined on the sidelines for the next round of games by nine players who completed the five booking cycle, including Sergio Sánchez (Málaga), who picked up his tenth yellow card of the season, as well as Filipe Luis (Atlético), Krohn-Dehli (Celta), Ciprian (Getafe), Héctor Rodas and Rubén García (Levante), Camacho (Málaga), Di María (Real Madrid) and Mikel González (Real Sociedad), who were all shown their fifth. (25.03.14)

PS. With the week 30 games starting less than 24 hours after week 29 ended, that gave little time for the disciplinary committee to meet, a problem especially for Málaga, who were informed that their appeals against the suspensions of their three players were turned down only shortly before kick-off of their Tuesday night match against Espanyol. Sergio Ramos also had an appeal rejected, but Real Madrid sent him to Sevilla anyway hoping that a second appeal would prosper (which it didn’t). The problem is likely to arise again on Friday, with the week 31 games due to start on Saturday afternoon, but the committee’s lawyers go at their own pace, and they won’t be rushed. As they say over here, “las cosas de palacio van despacio...”. (27.03.14)

 

(* suspension pending disciplinary meeting decision)

Villains Yellow cards Red cards (straight) Games banned Total points
Víctor Sánchez (Espanyol) 17 3 4 24
Botía (Elche) 16 0 3 19
Duda (Málaga) 8 2 (2) 6* 18
Saúl (Rayo Vallecano) 14 1 3 18
Jesús Gámez (Málaga) 11 1 4 17
Iturra (Granada) 12 2 3 17
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) 13 1 (1) 3* 17
Gálvez (Rayo Vallecano) 13 1 3 17
Sergio Sánchez (Málaga) 12 1 3* 16
Diogo Figueiras (Sevilla) 8 1 (1) 5 15
Filipe Luis (Atlético) 8 2 (1) 4* 15
Cala (Sevilla) 9 2 (1) 3 15
Damián Suárez (Elche) 10 2 3 15
Alexis (Getafe) 13 0 2 15
Aduríz (Athletic Bilbao) 9 1 4 14
Dubarbier (Almería) 11 1 2 14
Amaya (Betis) 11 1 2 14
Nono (Betis) 11 1 2 14
Borja (Getafe) 11 1 2 14
M'Bia (Sevilla) 7 2 (1) 3 13
Coke (Sevilla) 8 1 (1) 3 13
Iñigo Martínez (Real Soc) 9 1 3 13
Silva (Osasuna) 10 1 2 13
Iborra (Sevilla) 10 1 2 13
Busquets (Barcelona) 12 0 1 13