González Vázquez put the finishing touch to Bernd Schuster's career at Real Madrid on Sunday. The referee was instrumental in Madrid's defeat against Sevilla, waving away appeals for a foul on Cannavaro when Kanouté scored his side's second, failing to punish Squillaci for hitting out at Gago, and turning down two penalties on Higuaín after the break.

The second was when Palop held on to the striker's shirt, and it upset Robben so much that we went over the top with his comments (the referee's report said he uttered a two word English phrase which began with "F" and ended in "you"!), and that provoked a second booking and a red card. Sevilla got the winner soon afterwards.

Schuster surprisingly didn't criticise the referee afterwards (by coincidence both are named Bernard(ino) and were born in Germany), but his defeatist attitude when he said it was impossible to win next week in the Nou Camp was too much for Madrid's management, who replaced him with Juande Ramos. González Vázquez has been tipped to referee this season's cup final, but that won't worry Madrid too much. They are already out of the competition. (09.12.08)