La Liga diving contest took place on Saturday, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Hélder Postiga convincing the judges after performing near-perfect plunges in their respective penalty areas!!! Seriously though, both were dubious at least, although referees Undiano Mallenco and Gil Manzano gave them the benefit of the doubt. Ronaldo converted his penalty and went on to score a record hat-trick, but Depor’s spot kick was saved and they lost. It all works out in the wash, but you have to stick them away when you get them! Elsewhere Atlético’s first goal against Elche probably shouldn’t have been allowed by rookie referee Bikandi Garrido as Turan was in an offside position in the build up, and Granada were denied an El-Arabi goal by Hernández Hernández for a non-existent offside, but were then allowed an Isaac Success equalizer near the end, even though he was in an offside position and there was a doubt about whether Foulquier committed a foul in the build up. That’s the difference between success and failure we suppose (groans all round...). (09.12.14)

Name Games played Yellow cards Red cards Total
Alvarez Izquierdo 8 70 3 73
Estrada Fernández 9 61 5 66
Mateu Lahoz 8 59 5 64
Velasco Carballo 8 54 2 56
Hernández Hernández 9 51 2 53
Teixeira Vitienes, F. 8 46 5 51
Jaime Latre 8 49 2 51
Fernández Borbolán 9 49 2 51
González González 8 48 1 49
Iglesias Villanueva 8 46 2 48