A couple of questionable decisions by referees in the midweek games as the season enters it's final rush, the most influential of which in Gijón, where rookie Del Cerro Grande turned down a penalty appeal by Sporting after Villarreal's Jaume Costa appeared to handle in the area, and then awarded a penalty to the visitors for a foul by Gregory on Marco Rubén. That and other things upset Sporting's quiet and unassuming (?!?) manager Javier Clemente (who rumours say has been made the new England coach - they took out his teeth and put in seats!), and he was sent to the stands for his protests. Villarreal won the game 2-3, and the Asturians are now very close to being relegated. The big two were also favoured by the officials, although the decisions there didn't really change anything. José Antonio Teixeira Vitienes gave Madrid a penalty for a hand ball by Athletic Bilbao's Javi Martínez, but when Khedira handled in much the same way, he turned a blind eye. Teixeira also sent off Martínez following a second yellow card for what he considered to be a deliberate hand ball, which was to say the least quite rigorous, but as Madrid were three up by then (Ronaldo having in any case missed the penalty), it wouldn't have made much difference if he had stayed on. And depending on which paper you read (Madrid or Barcelona press!), Messi was or was not gifted two penalties by Turienzo Alvarez as Barcelona went on to beat Málaga 4-0. Again without the penalties, Barça would probably have won anyway. (04.05.12)
Name | Games played | Yellow cards | Red cards | Total |
Velasco Carballo | 21 | 155 | 18 | 173 |
Estrada Fernández | 25 | 164 | 7 | 171 |
Paradas Romero | 20 | 156 | 14 | 170 |
Teixeira Vitienes, J.A. | 21 | 159 | 10 | 169 |
Alvarez Izquierdo | 22 | 154 | 11 | 165 |
Iglesias Villanueva | 24 | 151 | 12 | 163 |
Muñiz Fernández | 21 | 144 | 17 | 161 |
Turienzo Alvarez | 21 | 147 | 6 | 153 |
Del Cerro Grande | 22 | 140 | 11 | 151 |
Teixeira Vitienes, F. | 23 | 130 | 9 | 139 |