The lowdown on Cádiz CF
Following a disappointing 0-0 draw at Getafe to start their Liga campaign. FC Barcelona's first home fixture in La Liga 2023/24 is against another team that is no stranger to taking points off the Catalans. Time to take a closer look at Cádiz Club de Futbol.
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 after only spending one further season, 2005/06, in LaLiga and going straight back down afterwards, they finally returned in 2020, and this time have managed to hold onto their place and have been there ever since.
Form guide
Cádiz got off to an awful start last season and at the half-way stage were very much candidates for relegation. But a considerable upturn in results in the second half of the season meant they eventually managed to stay up.
Things aren't looking too bad in 2023/24. They only lost one of their seven preseason friendlies, to Las Palmas, and started their official campaign with a 1-0 win over Alavés on Sunday.
Head-to-head
Barça had historically dominated the 24 meetings between the sides before the Andalusians returned the first division in 2020/21, winning 19 of them and losing just twice. But in their first two seasons back in the top flight, Cadiz shocked everyone by avoiding defeat in all four games against the Catalans, winning two and drawing two. Last season, things reverted somewhat to 'normal', with Barça winning both games by a combined tally of 6 goals to 0.
Four of the five goalscorers against Cádiz last season are still on the blaugrana books: Sergi Roberto, Frenkie de Jong, Ansu Fati and Robert Lewandowski.
Last five meetings (all in La Liga)
2021-02-21 Barça 1-1 Cádiz
2021-09-23 Cádiz 0-0 Barça
2022-04-18 Barça 0-1 Cádiz
19/02/23 Barça 2-0 Cádiz
10/09/22 Cádiz 0-4 Barça
In total, Barça have won 21 of the 30 games played against
The players
International caps
Darwin Machís (Venezuela, 36); Álvaro Negredo (Spain, 21); Milutin Osmajić (Montenegro, 14); Brian Ocampo (Uruguay, 1)
Barça connections
Central defender Fali spent a period on loan to Barça B while on the books at Gimnàstic de Tarragona.
Barcelona-born midfielder Rubén Alcaraz spent three years of his youth at La Masia, and joined Cádiz from Valladolid in the summer.
Sergi Guardiola (no relation) spent a short period at Barça B in 2015. He played on loan to Cádiz from Rayo Vallecano last season and has now been signed on a permanent basis.
The boss
Sergio González replaced Álvaro Cervera as manager in January of last year. The Catalan was a hard-working midfielder at Espanyol and Deportivo in the noughties, also winning 11 caps for Spain.
He then went into management at Espanyol, eventually being put in charge of the first team, and after that spent three seasons at the helm of Real Valladolid.