Barcelona 0 - 1 Cadiz: Shock home La Liga defeat leaves Real Madrid close to the Spanish Title

The match against Cadiz turned out to be a nightmare for the Catalans. The visitors at Camp Nou didn't pull up much in the first half.  But soon after the break, the Ex- Arsenal forward Lucas Perez poked in from close range to bundle home a rebound near the goal line. Although the Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen stopped back to back efforts on the goal line. Cadiz held the pressure till the end of the 90 minutes ending the match with a narrow 1-0 win against the Spanish Giants. This was one of the biggest upsets of the La-Liga season faced by Xavi’s side. 

Although Barcelona played a punchless first half putting the Cadiz goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma under pressure. Although Ledesma came up big every time he was called into action. Barcelona later brought in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Adama Traore and Luuk de Jong off the bench, but Cadiz held strong. As of the whole match it was Cadiz which generated the best chances to double their lead in the second half. Alex Fernandez fired a shot wide open and Barca’s right post kept Cadiz off the board on three separate occasions during the match. Cadiz’s Perez also had his best chance in the first half of the game, but failed to convert his chance.

Barcelona have now lost or drawn their last four games against Cadiz in LaLiga. The Catalans have scored in each of their 13 home games against Cadiz in LaLiga (35 goals in total) but failed to do so in the latest clash against them. 

The Cadiz embarrassment in LaLiga came just after another four days after an humiliating loss in the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt also in their home ground. The German side swept Barca’s hope of winning the Europa League and won 3-2 against them. Also an estimated 30,000 fans reportedly invaded the Camp Nou to support their side leaving Barcelona to change its ticket policy for further European Competitions.

Second place Barca trail their arch rivals Real Madrid by 15 points with 7 more games left. This was Barca's first loss since December 4, having won straight 15 games. The Spanish giants got a new renascence since Xavi’s arrival as the manager. Under the surveillance of the Ex-La Masia and the former Barcelona Superstar Barcelona even managed to thrash the table toppers Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu last month. 

Barcelona are now one of the five teams within a range of five points, fighting to get a Champions League berth out of the other three. The La Liga leaders Real Madrid will anyways claim the other one, and are also moving closer to clinching the 2021-22 title with a 15 points lead and a six match remaining in hand, this season.

At the bottom of the table, Cadiz emerged from their third and final relegation spot, getting over Mallorca and Granada. They are now two points above the drop zone with six games left in hand and next game against Athletic Club on Thursday.