Barcelona were embroiled in a tight affair at the Nuevo Mirandilla as they secured victory to stay in the title hunt. The gap between themselves and league leaders Real Madrid remains at eight points at the top of La Liga.
Joao Felix’s wonderful overhead kick just before halftime made the difference securing Barça a narrow victory.
Without getting out of first gear, Barcelona will be pleased to stay in touch with their rivals at the top of the table as they managed to rest key players ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday.
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Story of the Match
With the Champions League in mind, Xavi Hernandez made a staggering eight changes from their Wednesday night win in Paris. A completely rotated front three featured as Ferran Torres, Joao Felix and Vitor Roque replaced Raphinia, Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski.
In midfield, Fermin Lopez and Oriol Romeu came in for Frenkie De Jong and Ilkay Gundogan as skipper Sergi Roberto returned to the starting eleven after facing a ban on Tuesday night.
Marcos Alonso started at left back in place of Joao Cancelo as Andreas Christensen made the eleven over Ronald Araujo. Two seventeen-year-olds started on the right of defence, with Hector Fort at right back in place of Jules Kounde as Pau Cubarsi kept his spot.
Cadiz on the other hand, made just two changes from their last league match fifteen days ago. Aiham Ousou started in defence over Fali as Alex Fernandez replaced Rominigue Koume in midfield.
The game began fairly quietly with the first pair of chances falling to Cadiz on the twenty-minute mark. A near post shot from Juanmi was saved by Marc Andre Ter Stegen followed up with a mistimed volley straight into the hands of the Barcelona goalkeeper.
After an extremely quiet opening 30 minutes, Barcelona needed just one chance to break the deadlock. A corner from the away side looped nicely to Felix who unfurled a spectacular overhead kick at the back post as the ball nestled into the bottom left corner of the goal.
A few minutes later the Portuguese forward was once again involved as he received the ball running into the box, but this time cushioned a header towards the back post. Fermin met the pass on the half volley and redirected it back across goal where it was cleared off the line by Victor Chust.
The first half was very tame. However, Cadiz would have entered the break feeling disappointed after standing strong against the reigning champions but falling foul to a moment of magic.
Cadiz came out strong in the second half as they sought an equaliser which they came ever so close to. Juanmi latched onto a ball crossed in from the right and tapped it into the back of the net. However, the forward misjudged his run and was caught comfortably offside.
Cadiz continued to cause the Catalans trouble from the right flank. Victor Chust flicked a header towards the back post which went just narrowly wide.
It didn't take long for Barcelona to reassert themselves upon the game. Ferran Torres delivered an excellent cross from the right wing which was met at full speed by a late run from Felix. He unleashed an effort on the half-volley and just missed the target.
Ahead in the game, Xavi made further changes with an eye to Tuesday night. Kounde replaced Fort at right back, Pedri replaced Christensen in midfield, and Yamal took the place of Roque up front.
After the changes, Barcelona hit the woodwork twice. Yamal clattered the crossbar when cutting inside, and Felix hit the inside of the post from range as the Catalonian side continued to seek a second goal.
With less than fifteen minutes left on the clock, Ter Stegen made an acrobatic save maintaining his side's lead as Diadie Samassekou hit a sweet effort from distance just moments after being subbed on.
Barcelona saw out the remainder of the match in comfortable fashion, with Cadiz’s 14th loss of the season keeping them in the relegation zone, three points from safety.
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Player of the Match: Joao Felix
Scoring an acrobatic goal was crucial to allowing Barcelona to coast through the rest of the game and preserve energy for their mid-week clash.
Felix was also comfortably the most creative forward and the brightest spark in what was a very low-key affair. His three shots were all goal threatening alongside his one key pass and other important plays.