The expulsion of Fede Valverde in the derby last Sunday stirred up a storm that continues to affect relations between Real Madrid and Atletico. From the white club, as reported by MARCA, there is certainty that the fact that the recipient of the foul was Baena was decisive.

"If the tackle is on Koke, it's a yellow card 100%," sources at Valdebebas told this newspaper. Meanwhile, Atletico accused Madrid of activating "the machinery" over a play that the CTA considered on Tuesday to have been correctly officiated by Martinez Munuera.

The controversy hid a fact that was, without a doubt, striking: at this point in the season, Madrid is by far the team with the most players sent off across the five major European leagues, in all competitions. Up to 12 Madrid players have headed to the locker room early, 10 of them after a straight red card like Valverde's in the whites' last match, a figure that has no comparison among the continent's biggest teams.

Only Chelsea, with nine expulsions (five straight reds), comes close to the whites' tally, ahead of PSG with six, Barcelona with five, and Atletico with three.

In league play, only Oviedo and Rayo have suffered more expulsions than Madrid (eight compared with seven), although the whites have seen more straight reds than anyone else: six. Still, what stands out most is the fact that Madrid has committed nearly 100 fewer fouls (286) than Oviedo (372) and Rayo (380).

In the Champions League, Madrid and Dortmund are the two teams with the most red cards against them, with three in total, two of which are straight reds in both cases. Among the other Spanish representatives in Europe, Barcelona has suffered one expulsion and Atletico none.

Huijsen and Asencio have been sent off twice, although one of those came in the Club World Cup last summer, against Dortmund and Pachuca, respectively, highlighting the breadth of competitions in which Madrid players have been dismissed.

Madrid has even finished a match with eight players: the loss to Celta at the Bernabeu, in which Quintero Gonzalez sent off Fran Garcia (two yellow cards), Carreras and Endrick (straight red), a remarkable statistical outlier that underscores the disciplinary turbulence.

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