First division sides were in action in the second legs of the fourth round cup ties midweek, with four red cards in the fourteen ties which were played. Sevilla’s Iborra was the first to go on Tuesday for chopping down Iker Alegre late on in the game against UD Logroñés, although the Andalusians had already wrapped up the contest by then. The following day Ponferradina’s Berrocal was sent off for a bad tackle on Eibar’s Pantic with less than half an hour gone, a rash act which turned the tide of the tie, and Real Sociedad keeper Oier got his marching orders for bringing down Las Palmas forward Asdrúbal outside of the area near the end of their game, the Canary Islanders going through 3-2 on aggregate. Real’s captain Xabi Prieto was pretty miffed about it all though, and he was reported by the referee for banging loudly on the door of the officials’ changing room, a virtual red card which earned him a one match ban the next time his team play in the cup. After Real Madrid’s cock-up with Cheryshev, let’s hope that the Basque side don’t forget!

So to the league, and first of all to the Bernabeu stadium, where two early red cards put paid to Rayo’s chances against Real Madrid. The visitors had actually overturned an early goal and were leading 1-2, but a reckless tackle on Kroos cost Tito a red card with only fifteen minutes gone. A quarter of an hour later they were left with nine men when Raúl Baena was shown a rigorous second yellow for giving away a penalty on Sergio Ramos, and the rest is history! Quite literally actually, as Madrid ended up scoring ten, the first time anyone has hit double figures in the league since Madrid themselves did so back in 1960! It was all too much for Jémez though, and he could be in big trouble after the referee reported him for some “philosophical comments” after the match ended. Those who understand Spanish can read the report at www.rfef.es/actas!

Elsewhere there three more red cards, including one for Betis assistant coach Ricardo Ríos for protesting in a bad tempered local derby against Sevilla. Deportivo’s Luisinho was sent off for the second time this month after he picked up two bookings against Eibar, and Atlético captain Gabi (our “Villains award winner last season) was asked to go for an early bath for the same reason in his side’s game at Málaga. All will miss the New Year’s Eve-Eve games together with eight players who reached the five yellow card threshold, including Filipe Luis (Atlético), Pape Diop (Espanyol), Success (Granada), Aythami (Las Palmas), Toño and Feddal (both Levante), Nacho (Rayo) and Krychowiak (Sevilla). (22.12.15)

PS. So far there has been no follow up on Jémez’s comments, although his assistant coach Miguel Angel Cordero was given a two match ban by the disciplinary committee for his protests after the match ended. Betis assistant manager Ríos was also given a two match suspension, although yellow cards for Westermann and Joaquín were cancelled on appeal. (23.12.15)

(* suspension pending disciplinary meeting decision)

Villains Yellow cards Red cards (straight) Games banned Total points
Eric Bailly (Villarreal) 10 1 2 13
Luisinho (Deportivo) 8 2 2* 12
Escalante (Eibar) 10 0 2 12
Tito (Rayo Vallecano) 6 2 (1) 2* 11
Gabi (Atlético Madrid) 8 1 2* 11
Víctor Sánchez (Espanyol) 8 1 2 11
Simao (Levante) 4 1 (1) 4 10
Ebert (Rayo Vallecano) 4 1 (1) 4 10
Tissone (Málaga) 6 2 2 10
Rubén Pérez (Granada) 6 1 (1) 2 10
Iborra (Sevilla) 6 1 (1) 2* 10
Pablo Hernández (Celta) 7 1 2 10
Diop (Espanyol) 7 1 2* 10
Aythami (Las Palmas) 7 1 2* 10
Raúl Baena (Rayo) 7 1 2* 10
Bernardo (Sporting) 7 1 2 10
Javi Fuego (Valencia) 7 1 2 10
Piqué (Barcelona) 3 1 (1) 4 9
Mascherano (Barcelona) 5 1 (1) 2 9
Jonny (Celta) 5 1 (1) 2 9
Recio (Málaga) 8 0 1 9
Illarramendi (Real Sociedad) 8 0 1 9
Mustafi (Valencia) 8 0 1 9