Pepe cautioned for hand stomp

The Royal Spanish Football Federation named Pepe on its list of players sanctioned for dangerous play in the King's Cup quarter-finals, along with three other Real players and Gerard Pique of Barcelona.

Television images of the January 18 clash showed Pepe walking towards the referee, glancing down quickly at Messi, who was lying on the ground, and then stomping on his left hand.

The Portuguese defender apologised saying the contact was accidental, fuelling criticism in the press which considered the apology unconvincing.

Real lost the first-leg cup match 2-1 at home and travels to Barcelona on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) for the second leg. It sits five points clear of Barcelona at the top of the Spanish league.

The other Madrid players cautioned by the federation for dangerous play in Monday's list were Fabio Coentrao, Jose Maria Callejon and Ricardo Carvalho.