La Liga has been littered with red cards so far this season and it is starting to frustrate, managers, fans, and no doubt players too.
The Spanish league leads the top five divisions in Europe for red cards with 60 already. Ligue 1 has 55, although they have played an extra matchday. The other big leagues trail far behind in their red cards statistics with Serie A on 28, the Bundesliga on 22, and the Premier League has seen just 9 sending offs this season.
On Thursday night, Real Madrid manager complained about the number of red cards, saying that it was no longer just clear fouls that were seeing red cards but marginal decisions.
“The other day I saw an important statistic for Spanish football. Of the big leagues it’s had the most red cards. 55 red cards to 10 in the Premier League. There are many red cards that are not reds. It’s a stat that affects the spectacle of Spanish football.”
Overall, La Liga averages 0.43 red cards per game, while there have been 705 yellow cards so far. According to Mundo Deportivo, it is the highest average since the 2006-07 season (0.49), while only Ligue 1 in 2002-03 comes close to those (0.45).
As Ancelotti says, it harms the spectacle for the fans. Increasingly the referee is the decisive factor and in the past week alone, both Sevilla and Real Betis have been reduced to nine men. Both games were dramatically altered by those decisions.
