We hope you forgive us for concentrating on refereeing performances involving Barcelona and / or Real Madrid, but that’s usually where the big news is! There was controversy involving both teams on Sunday, rookie referee Sánchez Martínez giving Barça a helping hand at Villarreal, and Estrada Fernández getting virtually everything wrong in the match between Madrid and Sevilla later in the evening. Sánchez failed to spot a clear hand ball by Piqué midway through the first half which should have been a second booking and a red card for the international defender, and then awarded a dubious penalty to Neymar after he fell conveniently over the outstretched arm of the diving Sergio Asenjo, who had just pushed the ball out of his reach. No wonder Marcelino was angry, but his side did come back to draw later on. Estrada meanwhile disallowed two perfectly good goals by Bale and Gameiro, both for non-existent offsides, and his penalty decisions involving the locals were questionable, the one he gave for a tackle by Reyes on Modric probably wasn’t, and the one he didn’t give for a shirt-pull by Krychowiak on Benzema probably was. Ah well, it all balances out in the end! (23.03.16)
Name | Games played | Yellow cards | Red cards | Total |
Iglesias Villanueva | 19 | 134 | 12 | 146 |
Del Cerro Grande | 20 | 129 | 6 | 135 |
Clos Gómez | 20 | 127 | 7 | 134 |
Sánchez Martínez | 17 | 123 | 8 | 131 |
Velasco Carballo | 19 | 121 | 10 | 131 |
González González | 20 | 122 | 8 | 130 |
Gil Manzano | 18 | 115 | 3 | 118 |
Estrada Fernández | 19 | 106 | 8 | 114 |
Fernández Borbolán | 18 | 105 | 8 | 113 |
Alvarez Izquierdo | 17 | 99 | 12 | 111 |