Atletico 5-1 Cadiz: Colchoneros put five past Sergio Gonzalez’s men, leapfrog Los Blancos into second position.

The flow of the game

Diego Simeone’s boys recorded their 21st win of the current La Liga campaign, heavily thrashing the visitors by putting five past them. Antoine Griezmann found the back of the net twice while Morata, Carrasco and Molina also got on the scoresheet for Colchoneros.

The hosts took the lead at Civitas Metropolitan Stadium after just 64 seconds. Yannick Carrasco tried to dribble past the defence in the box, before picking out support on hus right. Griezmann fired a low-left footed shot to put the score at 1-0.

Atletico were cruising to safe haven 25 minutes later. Griezmann darted into the box, playing a quick one-two with Thomas Lemar, before wiping a brilliant left-footed curler past Ledesma.

A chance came for the hosts to bury the game in the 39th minute. Simeone’s men counter-attacked, Alvaro Morata breaking loose on the right flank. The forward got a shot away, forcing a save from Ledesma. Carrasco collected from just inside the box before sending a chance wide of the left post.

Terror struck in the Cadiz area two minutes later. Carrasco played Griezmann, both on the left flank. The forward tried to square back in but his dangerous ball almost deflected off a defender into the Cadiz net. Morata found himself in shooting position but could only direct it at the right post.

But the hosts were not to be kept waiting in their bid for more goals. Alvaro Morata who had hit the woodwork on the other end of the pitch tripled his club’s lead four minutes past half-time. Swarmed by yellow shirts in the box, Mario Hermoso played a pass to the Spaniard after an earlier attempt had been intercepted. The forward brought it down with his right foot, before firing past the goalkeeper from close range.

There was more to come as Ruben Alcaraz’s handball during an attempted block in the 57th minute awarded Atletico a penalty. Carrasco stepped up to the chance, burying it into the bottom-right corner for the fourth of the night.

The visitors pulled one back several minutes later with Anthony Lozano rifling home a screamer from outside the box into the far corner. The consolatory celebrations were cut off a minute later. Rodrigo De Paul had eyes for Molina, his Argentine teammate. He played the latter with a through pass, Molina running ahead to meet it. The defender latched onto it, his marker slipping giving him enough time to round past Ledesma in style.

What's next?

Atletico Madrid’s copious win over Cadiz sees them surge to second position. With 69 points in the bag only inferior to Barcelona’s 82 and fifteen points clear of Villareal in fifth-place, the eleven-time La Liga Champions are set to feature in the UEFA Champions League for the eleventh straight term next season. The domestic league is well out of their reach which will go to Barcelona (their first since 2019) if the Blaugranas can post a victory over Espanyol on May 14.

Meanwhile, Cadiz keep the fight to steer clear of relegation this season. Sergio Gonzalez’s men are in an extremely tight corner with the 5-1 loss at Madrid further compounding their woes. Despite being fifteenth, Cadiz(35) are a lone-point ahead of Getafe(34) (who begin the relegation list) and Espanyol. The yellow outfit have an advantage though, their remaining fixtures are easy when compared to Budgerigars’. While Cadiz may get to brace themselves and bite their fingers the most against Villareal, Luis Garcia’s side still have to share a pitch for a dreadful ninety with the likes of Barcelona, Atletico and Valencia.