Atlético Madrid, the reigning champions, continued their recovery by securing their fourth consecutive victory with a 2-1 win over Cádiz, who are facing relegation, yesterday (Friday) in the opening match of the 28th round of the Spanish football league. Atlético owes its victory to the recently impressive Portuguese striker João Félix, who opened the scoring in the third minute, followed by the Argentine Rodrigo De Paul adding the second goal (68) in response to an equalizer from veteran striker Álvaro Negredo (45).
The defending champions now hold the third position with 51 points, two points ahead of Barcelona before Barcelona's match against Osasuna on Sunday. Meanwhile, Cádiz's twelfth defeat leaves them with 24 points in eighteenth place.
Atlético has made a strong comeback since their surprising loss to last-placed Levante 0-1 on February 19, achieving four consecutive wins that allowed them to climb to third place, while also taking advantage of two consecutive losses for Real Betis, previously in third place, including their last match where they lost 1-3, in which Félix scored twice.
Atlético is well-prepared for the much-anticipated match next Tuesday against English host Manchester United in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, after drawing 1-1 at home in the first leg, with Félix scoring their goal (22 years old), who joined the team in the summer of 2019 in a record deal from Benfica for €126 million.
At the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, Atlético needed just 3 minutes to open the scoring thanks to Félix, who capitalized on a mistake from Argentine goalkeeper Jeremías Ledesma to score with his right foot from a difficult angle, marking his sixth goal in the league this season. Félix also scored five goals and provided two assists in his last eight matches, including four goals in the first ten minutes of the last five matches across all competitions.
The referee issued a straight red card to Atlético defender Mozambique's Reinildo Mandava following a foul on Rubén Alcaraz, but later rescinded the expulsion after consulting VAR, settling for a yellow card (40).
Before the referee blew the whistle for halftime, Cádiz surprised the champions by equalizing with a goal from a 25-meter cross to Espino on the left flank inside the area, which was met by 36-year-old Negredo, who nodded it into the net of Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak (45).
At the start of the second half, Argentine coach Diego Simeone made two substitutions to invigorate the attacking line, replacing Frenchman Antoine Griezmann and Belgian Yannick Carrasco with Uruguayan Luis Suárez and Argentine Ángel Correa (60).
The strikers made their coach proud, as after a coordinated attack and exquisite exchanges inside the box, Correa fired a strong shot that was parried by Ledesma but followed up by his compatriot De Paul into the empty net (68). Cádiz almost equalized, but Uruguayan defender José Giménez cleared Moroccan player Osama Idrissi's shot off the line after a mistaken exit from Oblak (74), before the match ended with the expulsion of Javi Serrano just five minutes after he came on as a substitute for Félix (83).
