Past the significance of the 4-2 victory over Slavia Praha, Ronald Araujo’s look marked a particular outing for the Uruguayan.
The centre-back got here on within the 79th minute, marking his return to the UEFA Champions League virtually two months after his final look, which got here in opposition to Chelsea.
Commercial
That earlier outing had been a painful one, coming within the defeat at Stamford Bridge in opposition to Chelsea, the place Araujo was despatched off.
The aftermath of that match led to a interval of depart for psychological well being causes, throughout which he missed eight video games, making his gradual comeback all of the extra important.
A sluggish transition
Araujo started reintegrating with the group after the Christmas break and even travelled with the squad to Saudi Arabia for the Spanish Tremendous Cup shortly after resuming full coaching.
Though he was not known as up for the match in opposition to Athletic Membership, he nonetheless performed a in opposition to Actual Madrid.
Araujo made his UCL comeback in opposition to Slavia Praha. (Photograph by Alex Caparros/Getty Pictures)
Commercial
Araujo was the one entrusted with lifting the title, a gesture that underlined the membership’s religion in him.
Since then, his return has been rigorously managed. He appeared instead within the Copa del Rey conflict in opposition to Racing Santander, and later in LaLiga away to Actual Sociedad.
In Prague, nevertheless, Hansi Flick determined to offer him round quarter-hour and the response was extraordinarily encouraging.
Within the restricted time he spent on the pitch, Araujo regarded like his outdated self.
He received three counter-attacks through the use of his tempo to get better possession, and he additionally made his presence felt within the air by stopping a transparent probability.
It was solely 1 / 4 of an hour, but it surely felt like an important step ahead in his restoration.