The lowdown on Cádiz CF

Where are they from? 

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 Cádiz are famed throughout Spain for their friendliness and open sense of humour, and 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. After finishing second in the Segunda División last season, they are now back for another try! 

Form guide 

Cadiz’s return to the first division started very well indeed. In December they were as high as sixth, having beaten both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona at their Ramón de Carranza stadium.

However, since then the Andalusians' form has tailed off. They now sit in 15th position and are just three points above the relegation zone. They’ve conceded 15 goals in their last four games in all competitions, and have only won once in the 11 league games since their 2-1 win over Barça.  

Head-to-head 

This will only be the 26th time that these sides have ever met in LaLiga. Considering Barça's traditionally strong form against them, December's loss came as a huge shock. The Catalans had won 1-0 at home and 3-1 away in their only other previous meetings this century (2005/06), continuing a run of straight wins dating back to a 4-0 defeat in 1991, when Barça had already won the title. 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 ‘Choco’ 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 (all competitons)
Álvaro Negredo 6, Choco Lozano 3, Álvaro Jiménez 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). Aside from the recent dip in form it’s all been roses so far at Cádiz, whom he guided up through two tiers to end their 14-year wait to return to the first division.