The La Liga Mental Asylum: Pepe and the 10 Craziest Footballers in Spain

When you think about crazy La Liga players that should be locked-up in an Asylum, Pepe must be the first mad-man that comes to mind. But truth be told, there are other ill-tempered players playing in Spain right now.

So what counts as "crazy?" Well, anything that shows you're losing your mind on the pitch. Whether it's a tackle, shouting to the referee, insulting one's rival's and teammates, or getting a plain ugly (and therefore, crazy) haircut, anything goes when you're shooting for loony.

You certainly know a certain Portuguese mad-man that will hold No. 1 with ease, but who will accompany him in the fight for the second craziest man in La Liga?

10. David Albelda (Valencia)

Age: 34

Nationality: Spain

Career Yellow Cards: 115

Career Red Cards: Five

Known offenses: Arguing with match officials, confusing kicking people with defending, insulting opponents, being a sore loser and making dangerous tackles.

Crazy-O-Meter: Declining

David Albelda has 115 yellow cards to his name, so it's fair to say he's not a clean player by any means. But he's more than dirty, as he seems to love fouling, and then protesting the call during and after the match.

It's true he's seeing very little playing time these days, but Albelda's still one of the craziest players in La Liga.

9. Duda (Málaga)

Age: 31

Nationality: Portugal

Career Yellow Cards: 36

Career Red Cards: Four

Known offenses: Exuberant arguing with match officials, play-acting, insulting opponents and teammates and being a sore loser.

Crazy-O-Meter: Steady

Duda is not a dirty player, but his short fuse gets the most of him frequently. He just LOVES arguing with refs, and is a very bad loser too, making bad tackles when he's losing a game. 

His antics on the pitch just show how crazy he is when he loses his head. 

8. Sergio Busquets (FC Barcelona)

Age: 23

Nationality: Spain

Career Yellow Cards: 21

Career Red Cards: One

Known offenses: Arguing with match officials, provoking opponents into red-cards and play-acting. 

Crazy-O-Meter: Rising

We all know he's an expert at play-acting and getting opponents sent off. That's mainly what gets him on this list.

But a fun fact is Busquets has never received a straight red card. And he has only 21 yellows to his name. So even though he's a good actor, he's definitely not dirty at all. 

7. Fernando Amorebieta (Athletic Bilbao)

Age: 26

Nationality: Venezuela

Career Yellow Cards: 65

Career Red Cards: Nine

Known offenses: Confusing kicking people with defending and making bad tackles.

Crazy-O-Meter: Steady

Venezuelan/Spaniard Fernando Amorebieta is 1.92m tall and is an intimidating force for Athletic Bilbao. And not just because of his size.

His dirty tackles are even more feared, and Fernando already has nine red cards in his short as a Bilbao player, some of them risking the opponent's integrity in them.

The worst part is Amorebieta seems to love playing dirty, and became one of the stalwart's of Caparros's tough, bone-crunching style at La Catedral.

6. Sergio Ballesteros (Levante)

Age: 36

Nationality: Spain

Career Yellow Cards: 65

Career Red Cards: Five

Known offenses: Arguing with match officials, provoking opponents into red-cards, play-acting, confusing kicking people with defending, insulting opponents and being a sore loser.

Crazy-O-Meter: Steady

Unlike Barça's Sergio, Levante's Sergio Ballesteros is one of the dirtiest players of the league.

And like Busquets, he's also one of the best play-actors in football, let alone Spain.

If you want crazy, Ballesteros is the man you're looking for. 

Ask Cristiano Ronaldo, Di María and Khedira if you don't believe me.

5. Marcelo (Real Madrid)

Age: 23

Nationality: Brazil

Career Yellow Cards: 30

Career Red Cards: Three

Known offenses: Not thinking, arguing with match officials, confusing kicking people with defending, being a sore loser and making dangerous tackles.

Crazy-O-Meter: Rising

I've talked about Marcelo before.

It's hard to find a player that's dirtier, more loud-mouthed, and plainly put: more stupid than him. 

And if that's not enough to know he's crazy, just take a look at his tattoos.

4. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

Age: 25

Nationality: Spain

Career Yellow Cards: 76

Career Red Cards: 10

Known offenses: Not thinking, arguing with match officials, confusing kicking people with defending, insulting opponents and teammates, being a sore loser and making dangerous tackles.

Crazy-O-Meter: Rising

But if Marcelo's crazy and stupid, Ramos takes him to the cleaners. He's got 10 red cards in his career already, and he's frequently losing his mind and making downright wrong tackles in matches.

Most footballers aren't philosophers, but Ramos is a VERY long way from being one.

3. Carlos Marchena (Villarreal)

Age: 32

Nationality: Spain

Career Yellow Cards: 82

Career Red Cards: Nine

Known offenses: Arguing with match officials, confusing kicking people with defending, insulting opponents and teammates, being a sore loser and making dangerous tackles.

Crazy-O-Meter: Declining

And if Marcelo and Ramos are crazy, Carlos Marchena takes it to a whole new level. 

He's dirty, loud-mouthed and loses his nerves in a flinch (if he even has nerves). 

I think just looking at the picture says it all, really. 

2. Jose Manuel Pinto (FC Barcelona)

Age: 35

Nationality: Spain

Career Yellow Cards: 17

Career Red Cards: Three

Known offenses: Having the worst haircut ever (and the craziest one), arguing with match officials from the bench, getting into fights from the bench, insulting opponents from the bench, being a sore loser from the bench and being an awful keeper on the pitch.

Crazy-O-Meter: Steady

This might be a surprise for some, but Pinto is one of the craziest players EVER. 

His haircut is something that I fear might come alive and try to exterminate every human being any minute, and throwing punches and insults when he's not even playing is his trademark.

And when he plays anything might happen. And when I say anything, I mean anything.

Pinto is a crazy man, indeed.

1. Pepe (Real Madrid)

Age: 28

Nationality: Portugal

Career Yellow Cards: 64

Career Red Cards: Six

Known offenses: Kicking people on the ground, being a borderline assassin, not thinking, arguing with match officials, confusing kicking people with defending, insulting opponents and teammates and making dangerous tackles.

Crazy-O-Meter: Rising

You knew this was coming.

Pepe is the craziest man in football. The end. 

And in case you didn't know, click here to know why. 

Follow FC Andrés Ehrli on Twitter! (@ehrli) or read his other Bleacher Report articles here!