Barcelona were eliminated from the Champions League semi-final in dramatic fashion against Inter, with the Italians scoring in stoppage time and then extra time to win out 7-6 on aggregate. Amongst plenty of lamenting on Barcelona’s part, the fingers of blame also began swinging shortly after the final whistle.
In terms of individuals, central defender Ronald Araujo was the player that was called out most in the aftermath. The Uruguayan defender came on with just 12 minutes to go, but was found lacking in both of Inter’s goals while he was on the pitch. During Francesco Acerbi’s equaliser, Araujo could not get in the way of the 37-year-old central defender, while Marcus Thuram turned away from easily on the edge of the box to set up the winner.
As per Sport, there is concern over his performances this season. While he has never been brilliant on the ball, Araujo has always stood out for his defensive prowess – until this season. In two Clasicos, Araujo did well against Los Blancos, in both cases off the bench, but outside of that, he has been a consistent source of mistakes when played.
The Catalan paper note that the dressing room did not take long to recall Araujo’s sending off last year in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain, and caused Ilkay Gundogan to publicly criticise him. That was resolved, but the feeling at the club is that his level of performance has declined significantly this year, something backed up by Diario AS, who say that the other central defenders suit the style of play better.
Araujo was poised to leave in January, requesting a move to Juventus, who bid €35m. That was deemed insufficient by Barcelona, who handed him a contract renewal until 2031, but with the promise they would discuss his future in the summer. He now has a €65m release clause in the first 15 days of the transfer market, and Sport say both Juventus and Bayern Munich remain interested.
Meanwhile AS note that some at the club regard Araujo’s renewal as ‘artificial’, and he remains a player Barcelona will consider selling. Flick is still relying on him, knowing that he has no other defender of his qualities, but the club are less certain on how to approach his future.
MessiGOAT4ever
39
He used to be a solid player, now his mind is elsewhere...sell him and bring in Tah.
oluwagoddy
26
for the first time after that PSG game,, i have to admit.. Araujo should leave our club please,, he has cost us a lottt
Bode1
10
Cubasi is not the strongest buh look how that little boy reads the game and he is just 18yrs playing like dat yes araujo has speed and strong buh he is not a reliable defender. When he should be soft he won’t, when he shouldn’t b soft he will. M not blaming him buh then again he doesn’t read the game properly. The 3rd goal he shouldn’t be at d back of a player knowing fully well a cross will be coming in. I don’t know why little details hurts us. Football is just not fair on our side. Imagine both two legs they were leading with 2nil den we fight back. Imagine we were d one leading by 2nil at d San Siro I doubt if inter will equalized cos dat alone might wey dem down. B4 d match we all knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game against inter milan we prefer Bayern to be honest cos of there defensive unit. You wouldn’t see inter play defensive game against a team like Real Madrid. D most annoying part of this UCL is trying to get here again come next season. Flick pls watch this game again and ask urself why u opted to bring in lewa in just 2mint remaining. You should have asked those guys to all defend it’s just 2mint we dnt need any attack or goals anymore. It’s still like a dream or we should have a rematch 💔💔💔💔