Real Madrid's clash with Valencia on Saturday evening, in week 12 of the Spanish league, served up a first half riddled with refereeing controversy.
Iturralde González, refereeing analyst for the newspaper AS and Cadena SER radio, ran the rule over the biggest flashpoints between Los Blancos and the Bats.
The trouble started in the 12th minute. Guedes flew into a violent tackle on Yan Diomande, sliding in and getting a touch on the ball but lunging with excessive force.
The newspaper AS carried Iturralde González's verdict: "Merely touching the ball does not exempt the player from responsibility for the severity of the tackle, because he lunged in with great force."
He went on: "It was a tackle that could have caused a serious injury. Had it caught him fully, it would have kept him off the pitches for 8 months."
Guedes' challenge on Diomande, he added, warranted a yellow card.
Mafeo's tackle on Real Madrid full-back Cucurella in the 24th minute drew the same conclusion. "It is a completely clear yellow card, because he came from behind, without any chance of contesting the ball, and targeted the knee," the analyst said.
Minutes later, Mafeo was booked for shoving Kylian Mbappé despite calls for his dismissal. With Mafeo the last defender, the incident could have been read as a straight red.
Iturralde sees room for more than one reading. "The regulations state that the ball must be under the player's control, or that there must be a real chance of controlling it, although applying that to this case requires a great deal of imagination," he said.
His point, though, was that Mafeo should already have been carrying a yellow for his earlier tackle. "He should have received a yellow card at that moment," he explained.