Saturday's three referees were all in the news this weekend. Megia Dávila was the most unpopular man in Valencia after a couple of debateable decisions (plus 13 yellow cards and two reds) in the match between Levante and Albacete. First of all he disallowed a goal by Reggi, ruling that Gaspercic had stopped the ball before it crossed the line, a fact that even the scoreboard operator disputed by flashing up "it was a goal" for the rest of the match. Then he awarded a penalty to the locals after Ettien was brought down, only to change his mind after the linesman insisted (correctly) that the foul had taken place outside of the area. And finally he sent off Bernd Schuster and his assistant for respectfully suggesting that he may just have made a tiny mistake (actually, see our villains section for what he really said!).

Levante's neighbours Valencia were having problems of their own at Barcelona, although in the end Puentes Leira's mistakes probably evened themselves out. One penalty on Eto'o that was that wasn't given, and one penalty on Ronaldinho that wasn't that was given. One goal by Valencia from an offside position, and a couple of possible sendings off (Belletti and Ronaldinho) that weren't given. Not a bad haul for a night's work. Compared to that, Muñiz Fernández's performance at Santander was exemplary, although local manager Lucas Alcaraz didn't agree and suggested where he might like to stick it (whatever "it" was).

Sunday's refs didn't do a lot better, with Daudén Ibáñez ruling that Málaga's Edgar handled outside of the area when it was actually inside. Villarreal scored from the resulting free kick though, so it didn't matter that much. Moreno Delgado decided he wasn't going to give a penalty whatever happened in the match between Atlético and Deportivo, despite four fairly good claims, and Mejuto González became the latest of a long line of referees to disallow what looked like a perfectly good goal for Real Sociedad.

But the white stick award this week must go to Teixeira Vitienes, who ruled for the first time in 98 years that the Betis kit of green and white stripes clashed with Sevilla's white shirts with red trim, and thereby delayed the city derby (and television coverage around the world) by 45 minutes while the Betis staff chased back against the weight of traffic to fetch the second shirts (which incidentally had the wrong publicity on them). A legend in his own lifetime. (20.12.04)