Atlético de Madrid - Cádiz CF: Closing in on the Champions League

Atlético Madrid kick off the month of May back at the Metropolitano, where relegation-threatened Cádiz will visit on Wednesday night.

Cádiz (8-11-13, 35 points) are looking to make history by beating Atlético (20-6-6, 66 points) twice in the same season for the first time. But the tone and tenor of this late-season meeting should be different from Cádiz’s 3-2 win at Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla before the World Cup.

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Atlético have won the past five home meetings with Cádiz dating to 1992, and in the present, Los Rojiblancos remain LaLiga’s form team with only two losses in the league since January.

In addition, with another win Wednesday, Atlético can secure Champions League football for the 11th consecutive year if Villarreal lose the derby to Valencia. And after Real Madrid’s loss at Real Sociedad on Tuesday, three points will take the Rojiblancos above their bitter rivals and up to second in LaLiga.

“I’m looking forward to playing against Cádiz and continuing to improve with the team,” Diego Simeone told the media on Tuesday. “There are still (several) weeks to in this league season, and then when the numbers are final we will talk about how the season has gone. We didn’t start well, and we want to end it in the best way.”

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The Cádiz fixture will be Atlético’s fourth game in less than two weeks, and Simeone’s squad still has key players unavailable. El Cholo confirmed Jan Oblak will miss his third consecutive game with a neck issue, while Marcos Llorente and Stefan Savić continue their recoveries from what appear to be season-ending injuries. Memphis will also return to the sidelines after he injured his right foot during training on Tuesday.

The Colchoneros have found ways not only to remain tight at the back without Savić or Reinildo Mandava, but they’re scoring goals in bunches. Atlético have scored eight times in two games since the slim loss at FC Barcelona 10 days ago.

“It makes me happy to talk about the competitiveness of the squad,” Simeone said. “Morata has 12 goals, Griezmann 11, Correa seven, Memphis in a short time has five. We need the best of each one. The best teams need great forwards, and with them, you have better chances of reaching the objectives.”

Date May 3, 2023

Location Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Madrid

Kickoff time 10:00 p.m. CEST, 9:00 p.m. BST, 4:00 p.m. EST, 1:00 p.m. PST

Available TV/streaming ESPN+ (United States), DAZN (Spain), LaLiga TV (United Kingdom)