After a long spell in the purgatory that is the Spanish third division, Cadiz CF is flourishing in LaLiga.
The Yellow Submarine is hoping to avoid a repeat of its last spell in the top division, which ended in immediate relegation. Eight games into the 2020-21 campaign, the club has laid itself a solid foundation to prolong its stay this time around. As the Friday games of round eight come to a close, Cadiz sits in second place on 14 points, which would have surprised even the most optimistic of supporters heading into the season.
The side with the smallest budget in LaLiga has finished every game so far this season with less than 50 percent of possession. Cadiz is happy to let its opponents see the majority of the ball, safe in the knowledge that teams face a struggle to break into the attacking half of the field. Coach Álvaro Cervera's men work diligently off the ball to limit the opposition's chance creation and keep them far away from the Cadiz goal. Its defensive-minded 4-4-2 formation may be unglamorous, but Cadiz has earned results such as an astounding 1-0 victory over champions Real Madrid and the same result and scoreline over Athletic Bilbao.
Cervera's side is adept at counter-attacking through the fullbacks, as displayed perfectly by Álvaro Negredo's goal against Eibar.
Alvaro Negredo gets up to give @Cadiz_CFEN a 1-0 lead over @SDEibarEN pic.twitter.com/KKYZMjRbVT
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) October 30, 2020
Friday's result over the Basque side, which saw Salvi Sanchez score the second just three minutes after Negredo's opener, saw Cadiz enter into the history books. Cadiz is only the second LaLiga club ever to win its opening four away games without conceding a goal. The only other side to accomplish that was Real Madrid in the championship-winning season of 1961.
#EibarCadiz 0-2
#RealMadridCadiz 0-1
#AthleticCadiz 0-1
#HuescaCadiz 0-2That's FOUR AWAY WINS IN A ROW (and four clean sheets) for new boys @Cadiz_CFEN. pic.twitter.com/wXV61Tm6Q8— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) October 30, 2020
Tough challenges lie ahead as Cadiz faces Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad and Barcelona in the coming weeks but the early days of the new campaign have shown this is a side that is not content to merely make up the numbers in LaLiga. Despite having just 25 percent of the ball against Real Madrid, Cadiz finished the game level on shots with the champions and managed to put five shots on target to Real's two. In Cervera's words, to fight is non-negotiable, and his determined and well-drilled side has Cadistas in dreamland so far in 2020-21.
As manager Alvaro Cervera says...
"TO FIGHT IS NON‐NEGOTIABLE."@Cadiz_CFEN https://t.co/unnTHxrDY4
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) October 30, 2020
