The lowdown on Cádiz CF

Cádiz is a city in the southwest corner of Spain, in Andalusia, and is one of the oldest continually inhabited places in the whole of Europe. Steeped with history, its location means it has always had a close connection with Naval history and particularly the first explorations of Africa and the Americas. Its Carnival celebrations are among the best known in the world. The people of Cadiz are famed throughout Spain for their friendliness and open sense of humour, and also for having one of the hardest accents for outsiders to understand!

History

Formed in 1910, the club didn’t play any first division football until 1977, but went on to spend the best part of a decade and a half at the elite level, albeit never finishing any higher than twelfth. That golden era ended in 1993 and since then they have only spent one season, 2005/06 in LaLiga and went straight back down afterwards. But after finishing second in Division Two last season, they are now back for another try!

The Stadium

Cadiz have played at the Estadio Ramón de Carranza since it opened in 1955 (with a game against FC Barcelona). However, between 2003 and 2012, the entire structure was replaced in phases, and what is effectively a brand new stadium now holds 20,724. It hosted the Spanish national team for the first time ever last month, the 7-0 win against Malta.

Form guide

Cadiz’s return to the first division has been going very well indeed so far. They’re flying high in sixth place, one point more than Barça, albeit with two more games played. The highlight has undoubtedly been the 1-0 win at Real Madrid, while the win by the same score at Athletic Club was impressive too. Curiously all four of their wins so far season have been on the road. At home they have drawn three and lost five.

Head to head

This will only be the 25^th time that these sides have ever met in LaLiga, and in their only previous meetings this century (2005/06) Barça won 1-0 at home and 3-1 away. In fact, the Catalans have strung together six straight wins since a 4-0 defeat in 1991, when Barça had already won the title. Other than that, Cadiz’s only other victory in this fixture (at home or away) was a 1-0 win back in 1982.

The players

International caps
Anthony Lozano (Honduras, 33); Álvaro Negredo (Spain, 21); Augusto Fernández (Argentina, 16); Carlos Akapo (Equatorial Guinea, 15); Jens Jønsson (Denmark, 2)

Barça connections
Central defender Fali spent a period on loan to Barça B while on the books at Gimnastic Tarragona.
Winger Alberto Perea was at Barça B in the 2016/17 season, joining Cadiz at the end of the campaign.
Honduran striker Anthony Lozano was at Barça B in the 2017/18 season, playing 20 games and scoring 4 goals before leaving for Girona.
Forward Bobby Adekanye, born in Nigeria but playing for Holland at U20 level, spent three years of his youth at FC Barcelona.

Top scorers 2020/21
Álvaro Negredo 2, Salvi Sánchez 2

The boss

Mallorca, Racing Santander and Valencia were Álvaro Cervera’s main clubs as a player, and he even appeared four times for Spain. He has coached many clubs, but his only previous first division experience was a short and unsuccessful spell at Racing Santander (including a 2-0 defeat to Barça, his only previous managerial meeting with this weekend’s rival). But it’s all been roses so far at Cadiz so far, which he has guided up through two tiers to end a 14-year wait to return to the first division.