Not too much controversy in the opening weekend of the New Year after the midweek shenanigans, although Barcelona were unhappy that González González (him again!) let hosts Espanyol off some heavy tackling. Eventually the two teams took matters into their own hands, and there were a lot of handbags flying, particularly in the first half. The two neighbours meet again in the cup next Wednesday, so expect fireworks! Elsewhere Real Madrid felt that rookie referee Sánchez Martínez (who awarded hosts Valencia a penalty) could have given them a couple of spot kicks as well, the first for a foul by Orbán on Bale, and the second for a possible hand-ball by Abdennour (and possibly another foul on Ronaldo after the restart?). As it happened that could have changed the fate of Rafa Benítez, but as the world now knows, the coach was fired after his side could only draw 2-2 in the end. (05.01.16)
Name | Games played | Yellow cards | Red cards | Total |
Iglesias Villanueva | 12 | 81 | 7 | 88 |
Clos Gómez | 12 | 79 | 6 | 85 |
Del Cerro Grande | 12 | 81 | 4 | 85 |
González González | 12 | 77 | 6 | 83 |
Gil Manzano | 11 | 77 | 3 | 80 |
Alvarez Izquierdo | 10 | 69 | 7 | 76 |
Velasco Carballo | 11 | 67 | 5 | 72 |
Undiano Mallenco | 12 | 67 | 4 | 71 |
Sánchez Martínez | 10 | 63 | 4 | 67 |
Prieto Iglesias | 10 | 59 | 3 | 62 |