The fourth round, second leg, cup ties were played out midweek, with the exception of course of the game between Real Madrid and Cádiz, Madrid’s appeals for their disqualification for fielding an ineligible player in the first leg turned down by the sporting authorities. Not too much controversy otherwise though on the refereeing front, although De Burgos Bengoetxea did allow Soldado’s goal to stand against Huesca despite the Villarreal striker being in an offside position at the time, and Undiano Mallenco ruled out what would have been Lucas Hernández’s first goal for Atlético for what he erroneously considered to be a previous hand ball by Savic. Villarreal would have beaten Huesca on the away goal rule without Soldado’s strike though, and Atlético were well clear against Reus in their tie.

Rayo Vallecano coach Paco Jémez was definitely not a happy man this Sunday, and he was reported by Iglesias Villanueva for his rant to the officials after his side’s game at Real Madrid ended. The reason for his ire was the two red cards which the referee gave to his players Tito and Raúl Baena in the first half hour of the match, converting what was at one time a small lead into a thumping 10-2 defeat. Tito’s sending off for a two-footed tackle on Kroos was completely justified though, and an appeal to the disciplinary committee about one of Baena’s yellow cards was also rejected, so it seems Jémez has no grounds to pursue his complaint. His comments though were denounced by the referees’ association, and we have to wait and see whether there are further repercussions. (23.12.15)

Name Games played Yellow cards Red cards Total
Iglesias Villanueva 11 75 7 82
Clos Gómez 11 74 6 80
Del Cerro Grande 11 72 4 76
Alvarez Izquierdo 9 65 7 72
González González 10 64 5 69
Gil Manzano 10 65 3 68
Velasco Carballo 10 61 5 66
Undiano Mallenco 10 58 3 61
Sánchez Martínez 8 55 3 58
Hernández Hernández 9 53 4 57