Cadiz vs Atletico Madrid

Morally-crippled Atletico Madrid take a trip to the Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla to encounter warm La Liga relegation candidates Cadiz in a must-win contest.

Desperate to stretch their La Liga status to a fifth consecutive season, Cadiz’s ill-fated 11-game league start has already thrown their survival hopes into doubt (W1, D4, L6). Since pulling off a 1-0 win at promoted Valladolid in mid-September, ‘El Submarino Amarillo’ have gone winless in five consecutive league fixtures (D4, L1) as their scoring issues continue to haunt them. A lack of firepower up top has seen Cadiz net a league-low five goals thus far, bagging more than once per game only once in 11 matches! Nothing should change at the weekend, considering they lost both last season’s La Liga showdowns against Atleti ‘to one.’ Head coach Sergio Gonzalez would settle for a point here, given the substantial gulf in class between the sides, and a three-game unbeaten home run in La Liga (D3) looks promising.

In the meantime, Yannick Carrasco’s missed penalty deep into stoppage-time during an enthralling 2-2 home draw with Bayer Leverkusen in midweek Champions League action condemned Atletico Madrid to their first group stage elimination since 2017/18. The pressure continues to mount on under-fire Diego Simeone, who has overseen the visitors’ encouraging run of five unbeaten matches in La Liga in the build-up to this trip (W4, D1). Playing outside the Metropolitano Stadium has suited ‘Los Colchoneros’ this season, as they’ve racked up an eye-catching five wins across six La Liga travels (D1). Another success would be a historic achievement for Atleti, who can win 5+ consecutive La Liga meetings with Cadiz for the first time.