We suppose we have to talk about Iturralde González this weekend. The veteran referee was put in charge of the "clásico" between Barcelona and Real Madrid, and although his decisions didn't influence the 5-0 result, there were a few questionable incidents. The Madrid press for example criticised him for not giving a penalty to Cristiano Ronaldo when he was brought down by Víctor Valdés shortly before half time which, if given, could also have resulted in a red card for the Barça keeper. And they also point out that Villa was probably offside when he scored his team's third goal. Messi could have had a penalty himself though late on (he was shown a yellow card for what Iturralde considered to be a dive), and the referee didn't make a mention in his report of Ronaldo's push on Guardiola in the first half and Ramos's altercation with Puyol and company after the final whistle, which could have resulted in bigger penalties for the two of them. Ah well, he did though manage to show thirteen yellows and a red, thereby increasing his tally as the referee who has shown most cards in his career. at this rate his record will be unbeatable. (01.12.10)