“This was a light of hope,” Mauricio Pellegrino said, a sudden flash that brought them back to life. Cádiz had tried everything. They had changed the coach, changed the players and even changed their shirt. They had tried free transfers and free tickets too. They had hosted Valencia, Athletic, Real Sociedad and Betis, been to Pamplona, Villarreal, Vitoria and Granada, and it didn’t do any good. They had been through all the centre-forwards they have, and that’s a lot, but it wasn’t happening. They hadn’t scored in five matches, soon to be six; they had got just one in eight, and that was a penalty in a pasting. They hadn’t won in 21 league games, nearly six months. They were done. And then someone had a bright idea. Have you tried just hitting it?
On Sunday afternoon in the 100th minute of the biggest game, Darwin Machís did. As hard as he could, first time, running in. From the top left corner of the area, the clock on 99.02, he smashed a shot you could actually hear, the thud echoing as the ball tore in at the near post. He had only been on the pitch a little while but with one shot, he had revived his team. It was only the equaliser; Cádiz still haven’t won since the first day of September and the 2-2 draw it secured against Celta Vigo didn’t even pull them out of the relegation zone. But in that moment of madness – the bench emptying, teammates tearing down the touchline after the goalscorer, their saviour – it felt like everything.
This game had been huge, after all, the biggest of the season so far. The Celta coach, Rafa Benítez, had studiously avoided declaring it a final, even though most managers and every single newspaper will happily call any old game that these days. But his side’s trip to Cádiz, 18th against 17th, was “life or death” Diario de Cádiz claimed. Four points from safety, catching Celta was Cádiz’s only hope of survival; they could not allow them to slip further away. This was one they had to win. Lose and they would be six points and head-to-head goal difference behind, two wins from safety for a team that had won just twice all season – in weeks one and four.
In the week before the game, Cádiz had offered tickets to members’ mates to pack the place. They had also presented a new shirt especially for the occasion, Brazilian yellow swapped for light blue. Inspired by the sea, a nod to the navy, compass rose and anchor in one corner, Juan Sebastián Elcano training ship on the neck, waves all the way around, it would have been bad enough anyway; wearing it against Celta, whose colours they had taken, was even worse. But they had to try something. And the last two times they had worn special one-off shirts – purple in 2021-22 and a hideous, carnival-inspired orange thing the year after – it had worked, so it was worth a go. Anything was for a club where they no longer even seemed to be themselves.
If there is a place where football is fun, it is down in the bay, all bright yellow and loud. Home of Spain’s first constitution and its biggest carnival, life here is a laugh, even when it’s tough. On the way into the ground, a phrase on the wall declares “whoever is against Cádiz is against humanity”. This is a happy place, an enjoyably silly one too; it is a club that can feel like it’s a cause and that one loyal fans really love. Or, at least, it’s supposed to be. Lately though there’s been tension, tedium too, a pessimism taking over the most optimistic people of all. There’s been little faith in the president and not very much more in the players, in probably the worst team in Spain.
For most of Sunday there wasn’t either. Eleven minutes in Cádiz were already a goal down to a lovely Iago Aspas strike. In the 58th minute, Williot Swedberg made it 2-0 and it was hard to imagine a way back when no one in La Liga has scored fewer goals than Cádiz, only Valencia have taken fewer shots, no one has a lower xG and there hasn’t been a La Liga team with as few goals this late since Logroñés almost 30 years ago.
Another attempt at a forward line had made way, fans whistling at the departing Maxi Gómez – 21 games, no goals. Top scorer Chris Ramos and Sergi Guardiola were given a go, and while this time there were actually some chances, they have only five and no goals respectively and time was slipping away. Cádiz hadn’t scored from open play in almost 800 minutes; on Sunday supporters could be forgiven for thinking they never would again. With 12 weeks to go, it looked very much like the relegation race was run too: record-breaking Almería, the best worst team ever – capable of putting two past Atlético, Madrid, Barcelona and Girona, but not of winning a single game – were as good as gone already. And so it seemed were Granada and Cádiz.
When Juanmi finally scored in the 66th minute, supporters could barely believe it, the release intense. In the stands, some couldn’t help but cry. But one goal was, well, one goal. Two was another matter – 15 games had passed since the last time they did that – and as for three, forget it. When on 98.33 Guardiola was offered just about the easiest opportunity you could ever imagine to at least get a draw, and he missed the ball almost entirely from five yards out, there was something almost inevitable about it. This was the kind of astonishing miss that said it all. From the corner though it rolled into the path of Darwin. “I didn’t think,” he said. The chance was about 6,985 times harder than the one Guardiola had just missed and the clock was on 99.02 but his shot was ridiculous, rocketing into the net, hit as cleverly as it was cleanly.
This was the resurrection, life delivered by Darwin. They had been down, as good as gone. But one ludicrous swipe of his right boot and suddenly they believed, La Voz de Cádiz calling it “the last shout of hope”.
Real Madrid 1-0 Sevilla, Las Palmas 1-1 Osasuna, Real Betis 3-1 Athletic Bilbao, Cadiz 2-2 Celta Vigo, Almeria 2-2 Atlético, Alaves 1-1 Mallorca, Barcelona 4-0 Getafe, Real Sociedad 1-3 Villarreal.
Monday Girona v Rayo Vallecano.
“We had them on the canvas,” Celta’s captain, Aspas, said afterwards. Two weeks ago, an 89th minute goal had seen Celta beaten 3-2 at Getafe. Last week, a 97th minute penalty had defeated them against Barcelona. And now this, in the 100th minute, cruel misfortune no longer looking entirely like chance: against Real Madrid they were beaten in the 81st, against Mallorca in the 85th, against Girona in the 91st and against Athletic in the 98th. Sevilla equalised against them in the 84th. Goals in the 84th and 97th saw them go from a win to a defeat against Las Palmas. And Barcelona came from 2-0 down to defeat them 3-2 with strikes in the 81st, 85th, and 89th. Almost half their games have slipped from them from 80 minutes on; they have now dropped points from the 89th minute seven times. 14 points have flown in those final minutes, enough to have put them on the edge of Europe, but Aspas said: “If we’re down there it’s for a reason.”
If Cádiz are, it’s for a reason too. They remain in the bottom three, three points from safety, and may well be the worst team in La Liga, still candidates to slip into Segunda. It was only a draw too. And yet, it is different, life delivered by Darwin. “Before the game I would have said that a point isn’t terrible but right now it feels like we lost,” the Celta defender Carl Starfelt said; for Cádiz, it felt like they had won, like they have something to hold onto, the release huge. Rubén Alcaraz was in tears. Guardiola vowed: “We’re in the fight.” At full-time, the players stood before the fans; forget the fatalism, this time there was applause and song, a communion once more, a little happiness let back in at last, a bit of belief. “I admit the atmosphere has been tense,” Pellegrino said. “Today, unlike other games, we competed to the end; the players had the feeling that they could do it. This team is alive.”
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 26 | 38 | 65 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 26 | 22 | 57 |
| 3 | Girona | 25 | 22 | 56 |
| 4 | Atletico Madrid | 26 | 24 | 52 |
| 5 | Athletic Bilbao | 26 | 20 | 49 |
| 6 | Real Betis | 26 | 5 | 42 |
| 7 | Real Sociedad | 26 | 9 | 40 |
| 8 | Las Palmas | 26 | 0 | 36 |
| 9 | Valencia | 25 | 0 | 36 |
| 10 | Getafe | 26 | -5 | 34 |
| 11 | Osasuna | 26 | -7 | 33 |
| 12 | Alaves | 26 | -7 | 29 |
| 13 | Villarreal | 26 | -10 | 29 |
| 14 | Rayo Vallecano | 25 | -11 | 25 |
| 15 | Sevilla | 26 | -8 | 24 |
| 16 | Mallorca | 26 | -11 | 24 |
| 17 | Celta Vigo | 26 | -10 | 21 |
| 18 | Cadiz | 26 | -20 | 18 |
| 19 | Granada | 25 | -22 | 14 |
| 20 | Almeria | 26 | -29 | 9 |
