Six red cards this weekend, three of them coming in the Nou Camp on Saturday afternoon. Málaga’s Diego Llorente was the first to go for a hard tackle of Neymar midway through the second half, and his team-mate Juan Carlos followed him down the tunnel for complaining rather too strongly to the referee that it was about time he blew the final whistle! Málaga assistant coach De la Fuente was also sent to the stands for protesting shortly before the end. Incidentally, having drawn 0-0, Málaga were just a whisker away from losing the game by default. League rules state that sides must have at least seven first team squad players on the pitch at any one time, but with Ontiveros, Pablo Fornals and El-Nesyri on the park, they would have been left with six after Juan Carlos was sent off. However Juande Ramos decided to replace Fornals with Duda just a minute before that red card. He must have a sixth sense!

Later in the evening Celta reserve keeper Sergio Alvarez probably became the first man to be shown a red card for an aggressive attack on a fridge, which he kicked in anger after getting up from the substitutes’ bench following a decision by referee Munuera Montero not to award his team a penalty! The fridge was unavailable for comment. Sergio’s team captain Hugo Mallo was also red-carded for telling the referee he had no shame after the final whistle (actually a stronger insult in Spanish than it would be in English)! Finally Granada’s new coach Lucas Alcaraz was given his marching orders against Valencia for carrying on complaining to the referee after he had been warned previously. All will miss the next round of matches together with three players who completed the five yellow card cycle, Alexis (Alavés), Pablo Hernández (Celta) and Hernán Pérez (Espanyol). (22.11.16)

PS The disciplinary committee really threw the book around this week! Hugo Mallo was given a four match ban, and Llorente, Juan Carlos, Sergio Alvarez, De la Fuente, Alcaráz and Celta assistant coach Fernández Tascón (also reported by the referee for insults at the end of the match) were all given two game suspensions! Somebody must have left them off their Christmas card lists! (23.11.16)

(* suspension pending disciplinary meeting decision)

Villains Yellow cards Red cards (straight) Games banned Total points
Hugo Mallo (Celta) 6 1 (1) 2* 10
Enzo Pérez (Valencia) 5 1 (1) 2 9
Sergi Gómez (Celta) 4 2 2 8
Amorebieta (Sporting) 7 0 1 8
Boateng (Las Palmas) 4 1 (1) 1 7
Dani García (Eibar) 5 1 1 7
Deyverson (Alavés) 6 0 1 7
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 6 0 1 7
Mercado (Sevilla) 6 0 1 7
Theo Hernández (Alavés) 3 1 (1) 1 6
Koke (Atlético Madrid) 4 1 1 6
Javi Fuego (Espanyol) 4 1 1 6
Rubén Vezo (Granada) 4 1 1 6
Juanpi (Málaga) 4 1 1 6
Alexis (Alavés) 5 0 1* 6
Cejudo (Betis) 5 0 1 6
Iago Aspas (Celta) 5 0 1 6
Pablo Hernández (Celta) 5 0 1* 6
Albentosa (Deportivo) 5 0 1 6
Kike García (Eibar) 5 0 1 6
Hernán Pérez (Espanyol) 5 0 1* 6
Livaja (Las Palmas) 5 0 1 6
Camacho (Málaga) 5 0 1 6
Carvajal (Real Madrid) 5 0 1 6
Iñigo Martínez (Real Soc) 5 0 1 6