The cup was back this weekend, with fifteen first division sides in action. And once again the cards flew thick and fast, with 104 yellows and 11 reds across the sixteen games, and rookie referee Velasco Carballo breaking all the records with 13 bookings and two sendings off in the tie between Lorca and Málaga. Undiano Mallenco was less than popular at Tarragona, where he kept play going longer than the two minutes signalled by the fourth official at the end of the first half of extra time, allowing Atlético Madrid to score the winner. And just up the road at Girona, Daudén Ibáñez didn't make any friends when he awarded a late penalty to Osasuna, again leading to the only goal of the match.

Not a great weekend for referees in the league, with several mistakes from our men in black. The most obvious errors were in the games involving the Basque sides, with Turienzo Alvarez waving away a goal claim from Real Sociedad's Nihat after an Osasuna defender cleared his shot standing almost a yard over the line. Osasuna went on to win 1-0, but the result would have been different had the goal been allowed. Athletic Bilbao on the other hand benefitted from Puentes Leira's decision to allow play to go on after Del Horno ran the ball out of play down the left wing. His cross was not properly cleared by the Villarreal defence, and Urzaiz cracked home the first goal of the match.

Levante manager Bernd Schuster complained about two mistakes by Rodríguez Santiago in his side's game against Deportivo, which in the end cancelled each other out. The referee failed to spot a clear penalty on Luque in the area, and made up for it two minutes later awarding a spot kick to the Galicians after César complained of a slight push by Jesule. Pino Zamorano was also criticised by the Atlético Madrid coaching staff for awarding a free kick to Mallorca on the edge of the area, even though it looked like a good tackle. Arango thumped the kick past Leo Franco for the opening goal. (16.11.04)