It’s not often you see Ancelotti get upset, but he had a real go at Melero López at the end of the local derby between Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid. The reason for his ire was that the referee had not only turned down a penalty appeal when Amaya brought down Ronaldo in the area, but he also booked the striker for a dive, his fifth yellow card of the season meaning that he will miss the weekend game (as will Kroos and James for the same reason). Ronaldo himself was almost in tears when it happened, bur presumably Madrid will appeal, and from what we saw on television he has a very good case for the booking to be overturned. Madrid went on to win anyway so no real harm done, but even so...

Valencia were also unhappy about Fernando Teixeira Vitienes after he allowed a late Aduríz equalizer to stand, even though the striker was clearly in an offside position. That may cost the Ches a Champions League spot in the end! Teixeira also sent off Otamendi with eight minutes to go for a high tackle when maybe a yellow would have sufficed, as he did get to the ball first. The Argentinian defender also injured someone with a flying elbow in the first half, but as that was his team-mate Andrés Gomes it didn’t count as a foul! Elsewhere Gil Manzano ruled out a first half goal by Eibar’s Arruabarrena for a non-existent offside, but the striker did get on the scoresheet later on to give his team a first win in twelve. (10.04.15)

Name Games played Yellow cards Red cards Total
Velasco Carballo 19 150 10 160
Jaime Latre 19 145 7 152
Alvarez Izquierdo 19 136 9 145
Gil Manzano 19 132 10 142
Teixeira Vitienes, F. 18 121 13 134
González González 20 120 5 125
Mateu Lahoz 18 116 8 124
Estrada Fernández 18 111 6 117
Iglesias Villanueva 16 107 7 114
Fernández Borbolán 18 100 6 106