Barcelona have been eradicated from the Champions League semi-final in dramatic trend in opposition to Inter, with the Italians scoring in stoppage time after which additional time to win out 7-6 on combination. Amongst loads of lamenting on Barcelona’s half, the fingers of blame additionally started swinging shortly after the ultimate whistle.
By way of people, central defender Ronald Araujo was the participant that was known as out most within the aftermath. The Uruguayan defender got here on with simply 12 minutes to go, however was discovered missing in each of Inter’s objectives whereas he was on the pitch. Throughout Francesco Acerbi’s equaliser, Araujo couldn’t get in the way in which of the 37-year-old central defender, whereas Marcus Thuram turned away from simply on the sting of the field to arrange the winner.
Concern over Ronald Araujo performances
As per , there may be concern over his performances this season. Whereas he has by no means been sensible on the ball, Araujo has at all times stood out for his defensive prowess – till this season. In two Clasicos, Araujo did effectively in opposition to Los Blancos, in each instances off the bench, however outdoors of that, he has been a constant supply of errors when performed.
The Catalan paper observe that the dressing room didn’t take lengthy to recall Araujo’s sending off final yr within the Champions League in opposition to Paris Saint-Germain, and brought on Ilkay Gundogan to publicly criticise him. That was resolved, however the feeling on the membership is that his degree of efficiency has declined considerably this yr, one thing backed up by , who say that the opposite central defenders swimsuit the model of play higher.
Bayern Munich and Juventus curiosity
Picture through HAITHAM AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP through Getty Photographs
Araujo was poised to depart in January, requesting a transfer to , who bid €35m. That was deemed inadequate by Barcelona, who handed him a contract renewal till 2031, however with the promise they might focus on his future in the summertime. He now has a €65m launch clause within the first 15 days of the switch market, and Sport say each and . He has additionally been extra just lately.
In the meantime AS observe that some on the membership regard Araujo’s renewal as ‘synthetic’, and he stays a participant Barcelona will contemplate promoting. Flick remains to be counting on him, realizing that he has no different defender of his qualities, however the membership are much less sure on tips on how to method his future.