Although it was not really a controversial weekend, there were still six red cards in week nine. Two of those came in the last game between Atlético Madrid and Villarreal, with Gonzalo Rodríguez getting his marching orders early on for a hard tackle on an opponent. An old villain Luccin followed him near the end though after picking up two bookings shortly after coming on as substitute, and he made matters worse for himself with a Biggles impersonation (holding his hands up to his face in the form of spectacles for the uninitiated) suggesting that the referee's eyesight might not be up to the job. Far be it for us to disagree with him!

Earlier in the day though they had been falling like flies, with Mallorca's Fernando Navarro the first to go for a second bookable offence just a minute after his side had taken the lead on the half hour mark. Opponents Sevilla equalised from the resulting free kick and the islanders had to settle for a point. Racing's Felipe Melo got his marching orders after the break in the match at Valencia for calling a linesman the son of a lady of ill repute, and Espanyol's Edu Costa and Real Sociedad's Uranga were both sent off late in their respective games after picking up second yellow cards. And Racing's Moratón and Real Madrid's Pablo García (last season's top villain) will be sitting out next weekend's games after picking up their fifth bookings of the season. (01.11.05)