Barcelona broke down a steely Cadiz side to run out 4-0 winners during the Saturday evening La Liga contest that was marred by a medical emergency in the crowd.
Xavi Hernandez took his Barcelona tropps to Cadiz’s Nuevo Mirandilla knowing that a win would at least briefly take them to the top of the table. The Blaugrana boss clearly had one eye on the trip to Bayern Munich in the Champions League mid-week and named a starting XI that reflected that.
Former Leeds man Raphinha came the closest early on with a left-footed strike just inside the area that rattled the frame of the goal. The Brazilian international can consider himself fortunate that he wasn’t sent off after one particularly ugly challenge on ex- Arsenal striker Lucas Perez shortly after.
Xavi was left seething in his technical area mid-way through the first-half after Alejandro Balde was tripped inside the penalty area, but no spot-kick was given after a brief VAR review.
The second-half marked a much-improved performance, as Frenkie de Jong's first goal of the season set Barcelona on their way before Robert Lewandowski doubled the visitors' advantage. Barcelona saw out the remainder of the contest without much fuss to seal their place as league-leaders for the time being.
Late on in the tie, the game was paused for more than half an hour due to the medical emergency that saw Cadiz goalkeeper Conan Ledesma throw a defibrillator into the stands. The players left the pitch following instructions from the referee while on-site medics treated the person in question.
Upon their return after the lengthy pause, Ansu Fati bagged another for Barcelona to make it 3-0 on the night. Ousmane Dembele compounded Cadiz's misery with a fourth.
Mirror Football has analysed the game's main talking points.
De Jong proves his worth yet again
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De Jong was the subject of such intense interest from Manchester United in the summer for good reason, the Netherlands international is a mercurial midfielder.
While he was goal was routine for a player of his calibre – De Jong simply guided the ball into an empty net after responding fastest to a rebound - his overall performance was superb.
So reliable in possession, De Jong is a driving force constantly looking to progress his team up the pitch. His goal was a reward for a fantastic effort in the middle of the park.
During what was so often a cagey, hard-fought battle, De Jong’s technique was a cut above the rest and sent a message to the Barcelona hierarchy that they’d be making a mistake trying to cash in on him again.
Barca’s strength in depth
When making as many changes as Xavi did, that in turn means there is likely to be plenty of talent waiting in the wings to come on and make an impact.
That was certainly the case for Barcelona against Cadiz, who brought on top-tier talents like Lewandowski, Pedri, Ousmane Dembele just minutes after De Jong opened the scoring.
It didn’t take long for those substitutions to make an impact, with Lewandowski sliding the ball home from close range just seven minutes after he was introduced to put the result beyond any doubt.
The tap-in marked the Poland’s international sixth La Liga goal of the season in five games, fresh after his mid-week treble in the Champions League. It is a testament to the calibre of player Barcelona can now call upon that three of the four goals scored on the night were notched by players coming off of the bench.
Xavi tries to flex attacking muscles
At the start of last season, many fans and pundits alike scoffed at Barcelona ’s attacking options.
Fast forward to the present day and Xavi has a plethora of star-studded talent he can call upon to put the ball into the back of net, as shown by his starting line-up.
Hat-trick hero of mid-week Robert Lewandowski dropped to the bench, while the permanent departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is hardly proving a headache for the Barcelona boss.
Instead, Memphis was handed a starting central role, accompanied by Ferran Torres and summer signing Raphinha on either flank. It marked an entirely different front three to the one that put Plzen to the sword in the week.
Memphis was guilty of spurning what was arguably the best chance of the first 45, failing to find the target with a first-time effort on the edge of the six-yard box.
A much-changed Barcelona
Boss Xavi made a remarkable number of changes to his starting line-up in the wake of Wednesday night’s impressive 5-1 thrashing of Viktoria Plzen at the Camp Nou.
Just goalkeeper Marc ter Stegen and midfielder Frenkie de Jong were the two survivors who started from the off in mid-week and again on Saturday against Cadiz.
The entire back four in front of their shot-stopper changed, with stalwart Gerard Pique returning to the fold after being dropped in favour of summer signing Jules Kounde in mid-week.
Two of Barcelona’s most promising young stars in Pedri and Ansu Fati were both missing from the line-up for the weekend’s away trip and at times Barcelona did look somewhat bereft of their trademark creativity.
Gavi did his best to break down a resilient Cadiz backline, as did De Jong, but the bottom-placed side put up an admirable fight.
De Jong’s goal came before a treble sub, but it wasn’t until some of the big-hitters were introduced that the game really swung in Barcelona’s favour.
Bellerin’s debut
The former Arsenal right-back got his first senior run-out at the club where it all began for him as a former La Masia product.
Bellerin’s desire to return to Spain was well-documented, though many expected him to eventually don the green and white of Real Betis considering he spent last term on loan there and supported them as a child.
The young Spaniard showed some signs of rust, though it must be said that is understandable considering the limited amount of game time Bellerin has had in recent months.
His inviting cross prompted a melee in the box that eventually resulted in a chance, but one that Memphis Depay failed to convert.
