Ramírez Domínguez came under fire from Alavés manager Pepe Mel after the referee sent off one of his players, Turiel, for a second booking, but let their cup opponents Zaragoza off the hook twice for similar misdemeanors. Both Alvaro and Movilla were let off with yellow cards earlier on for very hard tackles, and Ramírez pardoned the two of them again later in the game when they repeated the offence. Nothing much worthy of note at the weekend, with the most controversial decisions the penalty which Carmona Méndez gave in favour of Albacete's Aranda and the two that Medina Cantalejo didn't give when Espanyol players handled in the area.

We were missing Megia Dávila this week, and he certainly made a name for himself in Qatar where he has been invited to referee league matches for a month as part of an agreement with the Spanish and Qatari authorities. In his third match he managed to send off no less than eight players, three for Al Saad and five for Al Khour, and the game had to be abandoned as Al Khour didn't have enough players on the park. In Spain he would have been crucified, but in the rigid disciplinary regime of the Arab states he was in fact congratulated for laying down the law. With a bit of luck they might keep him! (10.02.04)