We know what it's like. You just get back from your holidays in a relaxed mood, and you just can't get back into the swing of things. Our trusty referees came back off the beach to take charge for the first time and couldn't quite get it together. Yes, there were a lot of yellows, 45 in all, but nobody could find that second yellow to be able to whip out the red and deliver the killer blow. If this had been a bullfight, the white handkerchiefs would be out. Zero patatero, and hopefully they will do better next time.

Some form shown in the Spanish supercup though, with Mejuto González producing seven yellow cards in the bad tempered first leg, in which Cañizares was felled by an object thrown from the crowd as he was walking off at the end, and Iturralde González showed the first red of the season to Valencia's Ayala as the return leg carried on in the same vein. We are still waiting for the first performances of the two new boys, Moreno Delgado and Rubinos Pérez, who will be replacing the retiring Llonch Andreu and Ansuategui Roca. If last season was anything to go by, they should be up there with the best of them. (03.09.02)