For Barcelona, ??there is no better solution for the loss of Jules Koundé in defense than a fully fit Ronald Araújo. With less than a week left to receive Madrid and face Vinícius again, the Uruguayan is already warming up his engines, testing his fibers and having his ability to react ready. He did it during the FIFA date with his selection against Colombia and Brazil and tonight he will be seen in Montjuïc, where he will be challenged by two of the most explosive strikers in the League: the Williams brothers.
If both Iñaki and Nico occupy the flanks of Athletic’s attack, it will be Cancelo and Balde, both very fast, who will be responsible in the first instance for marking, respectively. But Araújo will have to be on the lookout to come to the rescue in case his teammates are outmatched or he has to cover them if the full-backs are attacking.
Xavi, who loves his professionalism and desire to improve, has gradually introduced the Uruguayan after the muscle injury he suffered in August. At the moment, it adds up to 360 minutes. He reappeared against Celta at half-time and against Porto, in the Champions League, he had a great game together with Koundé (0-1). Without the Frenchman – who already replaced Granada when he retired -, Araújo must show the leadership skills that made him the new head of defense last season, after Piqué’s farewell. In fact, in the summer they chose him third captain of the squad after Sergi Roberto and Ter Stegen despite the fact that he is only 24 years old and that he arrived at the club in 2018 to play in the subsidiary.
Strong defender and of an imposing scope (if he plays he will surpass Touré Yaya’s 118 games for the club), the charrúa is one of those who enjoy while nullifying rivals and who celebrate rejections as goals. Physical power helps him to defend sprinters. It is not the first time that the cameras have detected him running at almost 35 km/h. The Williams are a challenge that anticipates the duel with Vinícius. This week the Charrúa and the Brazilian already faced off in Montevideo with victory for the Barcelona player (2-0), while the Madrid player was substituted in the frustrated 86.
With him, Barcelona have not lost since April 26, in Vallecas. Araújo, who has only done one training session with the group – on Friday he stayed in the gym -, will be a valuable piece to slow down an Athletic that has not won at the Barça field since 2001. In the last ten visits, the Blaugrana scored 29 goals for 4 of the visitors.
