A contrast of styles between the two referees who were in charge of Saturday's matches. Iturralde González applied the rule book to the letter in the match between Valencia and Espanyol without any consideration as to the consequence of his actions, showing what was a second yellow card to Rufete when the ball hit him on the arm in midfield from virtually point blank range seven minutes before the break. It was a hotly contested decision which also cost a red card for coach Mané, and Espanyol went on to lose the game.

Later in the evening Medina Cantalejo was in charge of the "hot potato" derby between Barcelona and Real Madrid. He too could have left the Catalans a man short when Márquez tackled Raúl heavily midway through the second half. However considering that the defender already had one yellow card and that the tackle had not done any damage he chose just to award the free kick, letting Márquez off what would have been a red. Which of the two was right? We suppose it depends which team you support! (16.12.08)