Daudén Ibáñez was undoubtedly the man in the news this week, and his brave performance in the derby game between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid has put him in the firing line. Daudén awarded a borderline penalty to the visitors and then sent off home side defender Iván Helguera with the game only a quarter of an hour old, and although he gave a penalty to Madrid in the second half and sent off Atlético's García Calvo, he still came in for some stick. In fact reports are that Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez blamed him for the draw in a press conference, but then realised the errors of his ways and rang round the papers to ask them to withdraw his statement. Everyone complied except for ABC, who happily published his remarks. And they are a Madrid based newspaper!

Elsewhere two other referees came in for criticism, starting with Moreno Delgado, who was harangued by Darío Silva for disallowing a possible goal after the striker's shot was punched away by Notario after it appeared to have crossed the line. The referee also turned down strong penalty appeals from both sides. Muñiz Fernández upset Recreativo manager Lucas Alcaraz after he (or his linesman) did the opposite, giving a penalty to Mallorca when Novo fell under a possible challenge from Galán, although there appeared to be no contact. Alcaraz was probably feeling a little sore though after Losantos Omar sent him off for arguing in the midweek cup match. (21.01.03)