The Catalan kings will head into the Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla on Saturday evening to face Sergio Gonzalez’s team with the aim of claiming all the 3 points from this tricky fixture. Barca News Network brings you 4 key talking points ahead of this intriguing contest.
1. Cadiz a tricky opponent to beat:
Fc Barcelona haven’t won a single fixture against Cadiz since they were promoted to La Liga Santander back in the 2020/2021 season. Both teams have played 4 games against each other and Cadiz came out victorious twice while the other two matches ended up as draws.
Things have changed drastically since the last time Blaugranes met the Andalusians. Xavi has exuberant firepower in attack and defensive stability has improved as well with the arrival of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde, and Andreas Christensen.
2. Rotations are expected:
With the stacked footballing calendar, and the upcoming Champions League game against Bayern, Xavi will be looking to ease the pressure on some of his key players. Dembele, Pedri, and Kounde may get a well-deserved rest to be available in the best possible shape for the game against Bayern.
Marcos Alonso and Hector Bellerin have also been included in the squad and may get their debuts against Cadiz as well while we might see either Fati or Ferran being paired up with Raphinha on the wings.
The Garnet and Blue are in a fierce title race with Arch rivals Real Madrid and Xavi will sure ask his players to go all out for a win in Cadiz and choose a combination of players capable enough to finish off this job and get all the team points.
3. Referee Carlos del Grande:
The Spanish Referee Carlos del Cerro Grande will officiate the game against Cádiz. The last time when these two sides met at Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla, he was the one who officiated the game and sent Frenkie de Jong off the field by cautioning him twice in the space of just four minutes.
Frenkie De Jong wasn’t the only one dismissed. The Refree also yellow-carded Sergi Roberto for arguing against Frenkie’s sending-off. Then in the dying moments of the game, the Referee also dismissed Ronald Koeman for showing dissent against his decision to book Sergio Busquets as well.
With only just four games played this season in La Liga, we have already seen some controversial decisions by the referees and the players have to be cautious in this match as well to avoid any potential suspension.
4. The title race is on:
Carlo Ancelotti’s team has won all of their four opening games of La Liga this season and sits at the top of the table with a lead of 2 points. Xavi’s men will be looking to secure the three points as their margin for error in La Liga is very small due to the quality of the arch-rivals Real Madrid.
