Joao Felix netted an extraordinary goal to lead Barcelona to a 1-0 victory away at Cadiz on Saturday night.
Just a few days after grabbing a huge 3-2 win away at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Xavi Hernandez made seven changes to his starting line-up from the game at the Parc des Princes.
A heavily-rotated Barcelona struggled to produce quality chances in the first half, but Felix turned his team’s first shot on target into a goal to open the scoring.
The Portuguese forward received the ball after a corner kick and managed to beat Jeremias Ledesma with a wonderful bicycle kick in the 37th minute. Barcelona wasted a huge opportunity to double their lead before the break, with Cadiz centre-back Victor Chust clearing the ball off the line following a Fermin low strike.
Barcelona secure all three points
Cadiz reacted after halftime and pinned Barcelona back to their box in the opening stages of the second half. Juanmi beat Marc-Andre Ter Stegen before the hour mark, but his goal was disallowed for offside.
Yet, Barcelona looked dangerous on the counter, as a Ferran Torres shot was blocked by a Cadiz defender before Felix’s one-time strike went just wide.
The visitors made a triple substitution in the 62nd minute, as Pedri, Lamine Yamal and Jules Kounde came off the bench in Xavi’s bid to provide the team with an energy boost and allowed them to regain control of the game and dictate the tempo.
Barcelona pushed for a second, but Yamal couldn’t find the target from a tight angle and Felix’s low strike crashed against the post. With 12 minutes to go, Ter Stegen produced a huge one-handed save to deny Diadie Samassekou in what was Cadiz’s best chance in the second half.
With this win, the Blaugrana remain second in the LaLiga EA Sports table, sitting eight points behind leaders Real Madrid. As for the Andalusian side, Cadiz are third-bottom, three points away from safety.
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