Barcelona captain might not play again for club as psychological situation very serious – report | OneFootball

Ronald Araujo’s constant mistakes in high-stakes games saw the fans lash out at the Uruguayan defender after his latest blunder against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League.

After all, the defender had himself sent off on the night at Stamford Bridge, virtually throwing the game away for the Catalans and not for the first time.

Since that game, however, Araujo has not featured for Barcelona again. He was initially left out of the squad, citing gastroenteritis, but it soon came to light that the player was not doing well on a psychological level and had requested some time off.

A concerning situation

As relayed by COPE in a report now, Araujo’s situation could be far more concerning than meets the eye.

Indeed, it was initially reported that the player had asked for a few days to weeks off to recover on a psychological level and return to the right mindset to defend the club’s crest once more.

Now, however, it is growing increasingly unclear if he even plays for Barcelona again. The player is far more affected than initially thought and could well have even made his last appearance for the club.

Araujo might not play again for Barcelona (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

The situation, needless to say, is unfortunate and not something any player must go through in their career, but the expectation and pressure at a club like Barcelona is immense.

Moreover, it was not so much his blunder against Chelsea that did the damage but his constant error-prone nature and rash decisions on big nights – something that cost the team in the past against Inter Milan and PSG as well.

Barcelona, for their part, are completely in support of the player and will do anything to help him come out of his shell. They have given him indefinite time off to recover and come back stronger.

That, however, does not say that they are not looking for replacements on the transfer market. After all, Araujo being in such a situation essentially leaves them a player short in a department that has proven to be very fragile in recent times.