Paradoxically, those final three changes might have undone Cadiz at the close. They opened up gaps as they slotted in that Atletico exploited. But at the end, they had to go large or go home.
90'
Four added minutes are incoming. It surely is too late for Cadiz to steal something now.
88'
Koke has scored a goal for Atletico Madrid! Assist by Á. Correa.
GOAL! KOKE SEALS IT FOR ATLETICO MADRID! 4-2! That will surely be three more points for Diego Simeone's side! A long ball down the right flank catches Cadiz out, Correa and Llorente play a neat one-two to move into the box and the former squares it for the midfielder to finish at close range. Game over.
That is a fantastic bit of interplay from Atletico, slotting exactly into the right gaps at the right time. Take a bow, Angel Correa and Marcos Llorente.
87'
F. Malbašić enters the game and replaces Juan Cala.
A. Fernández enters the game and replaces Jairo Izquierdo.
Manu Nieto enters the game and replaces Fali.
Cadiz also pull Cala and throw on Filip Malbasic.
Fali is also off with Manuel Nieto Sanchez on for the hosts.
It is the end of the game for Izquierdo as Cadiz replace him with Augusto Fernandez.
86'
Fali is the man to turn it in and it is a less-than-satisfactory return for the hosts. They'll know that they could have done better than they did there.
85'
G. Kondogbia gets yellow.
Kondogbia has barely been on the pitch two minutes and he is slapped with a booking after he catches Jonsson late. This is a promising set-piece place for Cadiz, a handful of yards outside Atletico's "D" on the edge of the box.
84'
H. Herrera enters the game and replaces L. Suárez.
There will be no hat-trick for Luis Suarez too as he makes way for Hector Herrera.
83'
G. Kondogbia enters the game and replaces Saúl.
Geoffrey Kondogbia is on for Atletico, with Saul off in his place.
81'
Oblak is keeping his side in this game, battering back another Cadiz charge. The visitors have been on the rack ever since Negredo notched his second.
Minute
Description
79'
How on earth did Cadiz not score there? The ball pings twice across the face of goal as Oblak fails to cleanly collect a dangerous header and Atletico only just muscle it away in the nick of time.
76'
Koke gets yellow.
Koke now cuts down Perea on the break and gets booked for his troubles too. Atletico look all at sea when forced to defend the counter-attack.
73'
Š. Vrsaljko gets yellow.
Vrsaljko makes a mess of a challenge out wide on Perea and gets booked for his troubles. Let's hope that doesn't spark another festival of cards here...
71'
Álvaro Negredo has scored a goal for Cadiz!
GOAL! ALVARO NEGREDO PULLS IT BACK FOR CADIZ AGAIN! 3-2! That is a scrappy finish but Cadiz won't care! A relatively innocuous cross isn't cleared as cleanly as Atletico would like and the striker scrambles a close-range effort past an incredulous Oblak at the near-left post. Game on!
68'
Suarez! That's another miss for the striker that he'll be left to rue, after Llorente teed him up with a fantastic back-heel. It will likely not come back to haunt Atletico though...
66'
I. Šaponjić enters the game and replaces A. Lozano.
65'
Lozano has played his last minutes of the day for Cadiz, who replace him with Ivan Saponjic.
60'
Á. Correa enters the game and replaces João Félix.
Renan Lodi enters the game and replaces T. Lemar.
Atletico make some further changes now, as Angel Correa subs on for Joao Felix.
The visitors also bring off Thomas Lemar and replace him with Renan Lodi.
58'
Now Cadiz unload a low-hanging cross into the box. Lozano makes contact and steers the header well wide of the far post. Better from the hosts however.
56'
Negredo tries his luck with an impressive back-heel as Cadiz break into the Atletico box. To his credit, the attempt is on target; Oblak just reads it perfectly and makes a clean save.
54'
Jon Garrido enters the game and replaces Iza Carcelén.
Cadiz make their first change now with Carcelen replaced by Jon Ander Garrido.
52'
Is this a bridge too far for Cadiz now? They'll need two goals to grab any kind of a result here and even with all the weight they were throwing at the close of the first half, both that VAR call against them and Suarez's second may have swept the wind out of their sails.
50'
Penalty goal scored by L. Suárez for Atletico Madrid!
GOAL! LUIS SUAREZ STRETCHES ATLETICO MADRID'S LEAD FROM THE PENALTY SPOT! 3-1! No mistake from the veteran striker as he steps up and firmly rolls it into the bottom-right corner. Textbook stuff.
48'
Penalty to Atletico! Lemar is sent sprawling after he gets bodychecked by Mauro and the referee does not hesitate to point to the spot. Cadiz are fuming as Suarez steps up.
46'
Š. Vrsaljko enters the game and replaces L. Torreira.
There's been a change at the break for the visitors too, with Sime Vrsaljko on for Torreira.
We're back underway for the second half at Estadio Ramon de Carranza. Just what can Cadiz and Atletico Madrid conjure up from here on out?
45' +7
HALF-TIME: CADIZ 1-2 ATLETICO MADRID
45' +6
This half is still not over. Atletico push deep, and find no purchase with a long throw-in, before Cadiz roar back down the other end, looking to find a chance of their own.
45'
There will be three added minutes before the break here. What a first half this has been for bursts of pure entertainment,
44'
Saúl has scored a goal for Atletico Madrid! Assist by T. Lemar.
GOAL! SAUL RESTORES ATLETICO MADRID'S LEAD! 2-1! That almost looked like a freak touch for the visitors, who play their corner short and push it in around the edge of the box. The midfielder flicks his leg out, presumably looking for the near-right post; instead, it arcs off over everyone's head and falls in at the top-left corner. Sterling stuff!
Lemar is the man who plays that corner short and then returns the delivery back into the box. Crafty, if maybe not quite how Atletico expected it to play out.
43'
More cards than Christmas there, for a moment. Tempers appear to have cooled now, as Atletico push up and win a corner on their right edge.
41'
João Félix gets yellow.
There are yellow cards flying here! This time it is Joao Felix who picks up the booking, for squaring up to a linesman after a call for a foul goes against him. Stupid from the Atletico man.
40'
Jairo Izquierdo gets yellow.
Now Izquierdo puts Llorente into orbit with a challenge and sees yellow too. This has got a bit feisty after it was pulled back to level terms.
38'
L. Torreira gets yellow.
Torreira drags his foot across Negredo in a rather sharp challenge now and gets booked for his troubles. The Cadiz man helped with a suitable leap to convince the referee there.
37'
Drink it up, that is a pair of absolutely brilliant strikes inside the first half at Estadio Ramon de Carranza. They are the sort of goals you frame and put on the wall. Score those in a World Cup and you'll be remembered forever. This tie has suddenly turned into dynamite.
35'
Álvaro Negredo has scored a goal for Cadiz!
GOAL! ALVARO NEGREDO LEVELS FOR CADIZ WITH A BEAUTY! 1-1! That is a barnstormer of a curled finish from the striker! He is released into the box on the right edge, dinks back around Lemar and swings an absolute peach across the face of goal to beat Oblak at the far post. Superb stuff!
32'
Cadiz are not happy with that call. They think they should have a penalty after Lozano breaks free into the Atletico box on a rare counter and goes down, albeit perhaps cheaply. VAR appears to have let it slide too.
30'
That is an absolute corker of a free-kick and doesn't Suarez just know it. Quite why Barcelona were content to let him go remains a mystery for the ages. Chalk another one up for his tally for the term.
28'
L. Suárez has scored a goal for Atletico Madrid!
GOAL! LUIS SUAREZ PUTS ATLETICO MADRID IN FRONT! 1-0! That is a beauty of a free-kick from the veteran striker! He curls it straight over the wall and in at the near-left post despite Ledesma's outstretched diving attempt to stop it. First blood to the visitors.
27'
Mauro fells Felix on the cusp of the "D" of Cadiz's box and the hosts will now have to repel a set-piece chance. Suarez steps up...
22'
Carcelen is fortunately fine to continue for now but that knock may require a bit more of a look as he continues to grimace moving along the wing. Atletico continue to exert strong pressure down the middle.
20'
Here's a worry for Cadiz now, with Carcelen struggling on his feet after a mid-air clash with Saul. He looks more to have come down awkwardly on his leg than suffered in the collision itself, but it remains a problem. He's off for the moment.
18'
After that early attack, Cadiz have hardly had a sniff in Atletico territory since. They're having to weather some weighty pressure so far, as the visitors lean heavily on their back four.
16'
Suarez now looks to draw the foul with a messy tumble inside the box but the attacker was offside in the build-up and concedes the free-kick instead.
14'
Saul! After Suarez sees a close-range effort deflected back out into open play, the midfielder powers a shot from the edge of the box over the crossbar. That was lined up with all the time in the world; he was just too hasty to unleash the finish.
13'
Jonsson gets cited for a foul inside the Atletico half, as he looks to shrug off a defender. The Cadiz man is less than impressed with that call against him, punching the air in frustration.
12'
The set-piece is lacking in finesse, sailing well over the crowded box and out for a goal-kick. Still, Atletico have recovered well from that early flurry of pressure.
11'
Atletico snap up their first corner of the game now. It makes for a chance to put some further pressure on their hosts...
9'
A chance for Lemar! The Atletico man can't wrangle a ball back under his control as he slips around the defence on the left edge, allowing Ledesma to snaffle at the post.
7'
An early possible injury headache for Simeone after Joao Felix takes a nasty tumble but he seems good to continue. Atletico turn a free-kick goalward with little purchase.
4'
Atletico fend away that early incursion but that is a promising sign for Cadiz in these opening exchanges. Keep up that sort of pressure and it will be far from comfortable for the league leaders.
2'
Talk about an early chance! Perea launches a shot from distance that Oblak fails to cling onto, coming perilously close to spilling it into his own net. The hosts press from their corner and sustain some promising early pressure.
1'
We are underway in La Liga between Cadiz and Atletico Madrid!
Hello and welcome to live coverage of La Liga's 2020-21 season, as leaders Atletico look to further extend their lead at the summit against mid-table Cadiz at Estadio Ramon de Carranza.
Cadiz have blown hot and cold this season, but took wins off both Real Madrid and Barcelona, typically de-facto title contenders. Of course, the latter duo's on-field struggles have left Atletico running away to an extent at the top...
The teams are set to emerge at Estadio Ramon de Carranza. We're moments away from kick-off.
Diego Simeone's side are seven points in front with two games in hand over their nearest rivals in the top flight - it is going to take a collapse of monumental proportions to fall out of the title race. But they need to keep racking up the wins; today presents another prime chance to do so.
Alvaro Cervera though guided the hosts back to La Liga last term and he will be determined that their stay is not a short one. An upset here could do wonders to help them avoid a relegation battle.
Negredo walks off with the match officials, in heated discussion. The hosts may feel hard done by, their chance to level from a spot-kick stolen on a borderline call. This could be a pulsating second half.
What a story it would have been for a newly promoted team to beat Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico in the same campaign. Cadiz, in fairness, never came too close to victory here - but they threatened to snatch a point for so much of this game. Alvaro Cervera had his head in his hands at the final whistle. This one stings a bit.
A different type of tough test awaits Cadiz next time then, in the shape of Real Sociedad. As for Atletico? They head home to face Celta Vigo. Until then however, thank you for joining us - and have a great week!
But Diego Simeone? As he jogs quickly off the field following an exchange with his opposite number - he's in a definite rush - there seems little that he can do wrong. The long-time boss of the Rojiblancos deserves a second league title to have next to his name - and he looks almost certain to get it now.
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