Flick denies Barça, says Araújo facing a private issue | OneFootball

Barça stated that the Uruguayan center-back was suffering from a stomach virus, but Hansi Flick revealed that "Araújo is not ready to play" and requested respect for the Barça player.

It was an open secret. Ronald Araújo is mentally very affected after his expulsion against Chelsea and the subsequent thrashing that Barça received in London. Despite Barça reporting that Ronald Araújo was suffering from a stomach virus that kept him out of the match against Deportivo Alavés, the German coach contradicted the club.

In the press conference before the important clash against Atlético de Madrid at Camp Nou, Hansi Flick acknowledged that the Uruguayan center-back and Barça captain is dealing with a personal issue. The Uruguayan center-back has not been training normally since last Thursday.

The German requested respect and privacy regarding a condition he did not want to detail, but which differs from the club's official version. "Right now Ronald Araújo is not ready to play, it is a private situation and I would ask you to respect it. That's all I can say," Flick stated. The cameras of SPORT captured the defender's agents, Edoardo Mazzolari and Edoardo Crnjar, at the Barça facilities.

The Uruguayan is left without protection

Information coming from inside the locker room assures that Ronald Araújo is very affected by his poor performance against Chelsea, although his teammates tried to downplay it in the following days. In fact, Hansi Flick himself spoke about Ronald Araújo on Friday in a press conference and urged the media to draw a veil over it. The Barça coach wanted to protect his player.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.