The future of Ronald Araujo in Barcelona is becoming more fragile than ever after a series of blame mistakes, culminating in the performance of disappointment in the semi -final second leg of the Champions League against Inter Milan. Having been launched in the 76th minute instead of Inigo Martinez, the Uruguayan center -back made a direct mistake in both the last goals that made Barcelona eliminated bitterly.
Just a few minutes after being on the pitch, Araujo could not accompany the 37-year-old midfielder Francesco Acerbi, so that the opponent scored a 3-3 equalizer in the time of extra time. In extra time, he continued to be pulled by Marcus Thuram, creating conditions for Frattesi to definitely set a 4-3 victory for Inter. Those two balls not only ended Blaugrana’s Champions League finals, but also seriously questioned Araujo’s position – who was once considered a new leader in the defense.
In fact, this is not the first time the 26 -year -old center -back caused Barcelona to pay the price. In the last season last season, his disastrous red card in the second leg against PSG also contributed to the Catalan team soon stopped. Internal team, as revealed from Sport newspaper, is losing faith in Araujo. A source from the dressing room claims: “one after another”, showing the long -lasting disappointment with repeated mistakes. Former Captain Ilkay Gundogan even publicly criticized Araujo for lack of sense of self -recognition – an important quality for any leader.
What is more worrying, the decline of Araujo is not only a temporary accident. Since signing a new contract, he has many times of distraction, lack of drastic at the time of survival. Although coach Hansi Flick still sees him as one of the important factors, the fact that Araujo no longer holds the inviolable position as before. Inigo Martinez is often chosen for key matches, and this semi -final may be the end of the belief for Araujo.
Barcelona also no longer put the Uruguayan center -back on the list of “indecision”. During the contract extension, Araujo’s representative actively searched for offer from other big clubs. Even the Terms of breaking his new contract was set only at 65 million euros in the first 10 days of the summer transfer window 2025, showing that the club did not hesitate to pave the way for a breakup if necessary.
In the context of the Barcelona defense is an inherent weakness with 24 goals after 14 Champions League matches this season-the most of the teams in the knockout round, Ronald Araujo’s future is being placed on alarm.
