| After
last week's bloodbath things quietened down a bit, with most villains lying low
having seen what happened to those who got out of line. The disciplinary
committee had a field day during the week, dishing out a record 23 man-matches
in bans, including four games for Real Sociedad's Jankauskas for elbowing an
opponent. They decided not to take further action against Barcelona's Puyol for
a similar incident though, and also cancelled the yellow cards to Mallorca's
Novo and Deportivo's Djalminha. The report from the RFEF makes interesting
reading on that one: "the player was attempting to play the ball with his chest
and missed, and it hit him on his shoulder. Therefore there was no hand ball. "
Poppycock and balderdash. Djalminha played it with his shoulder deliberately,
it was a cleverly thought out pass and almost created a goal, a moment of
genius. Still, it was definitely not a hand ball. Although this Sunday was
fairly orderly, there was still some trouble the day before (Saturday night's
alright for fighting, I suppose), with four players getting sent off in two
matches. Roberto Carlos became the first Real Madrid player to be sent off all
season when he picked up two yellow cards in quick succession in the first
half, and Celta's Giovanella got his red card under similar circumstances in
the second. The problem in Spain is that referees give out yellow cards at the
slightest provocation, and end up spoiling games by sending players off
unnecessarily. Neither player had done anything to warrant their expulsion from
the pitch. The real problems though came at Real Sociedad, where Luiz Alberto
and Fuentes were sent off before half time. More on that in our white stick
section, but whereas Fuentes probably should have got a six month prison
sentence for his unprovoked attack on Aimar, Luiz Alberto again was the victim
of circumstances. Two other red cards on Sunday, with Valladolid's veteran
con-man Caminero getting nicked again diving in the penalty area to pick up a
second booking (it weren't me guv, honest), and the Las Palmas manager Sergio
Kresic picking up two yellow cards in four minutes for protesting. Expect to
see another nine or so players out this weekend for picking up
fifth/tenth/fifteenth yellow cards of the season, including Real's López
Rekarte (joining Luiz Alberto and Fuentes of course), and three from
Alavés, Jordi Cruyff, Geli and Magno. They will miss Friday night's game
against Deportivo, but they could have been rested anyway with Alavés
due to play the UEFA cup final a few days later. (07.05.01) |
