Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has been granted an indefinite time away from the game after holding talks with the Spanish club as he looks to address his mental health
Ronald Araujo has been granted some time away by Barcelona as he looks to deal with his mental health
Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has been granted an indefinite time away from the game by the Spanish club as he looks to address mental health issues that have affected his performances this season.
It comes a week after he was sent-off in the 3-0 defeat at Chelsea in the Champions League. The Uruguayan was on a yellow card when he scythed down Marc Cucurella, giving his side a mountain to climb as they were well beaten in London.
Araujo has made 15 appearances for Barcelona, who sit top in La Liga, in all competitions this season and the club had claimed his absence from the win over Alaves at the weekend was due to a stomach bug.
Head coach Hansi Flick has now come out and said that Araujo has been dealing with private issues, with reports claiming he’s struggled following his sending-off against Chelsea, which have left him “not at his best mentally and psychologically”. Araujo’s representative met with the club’s sporting director Deco on Monday to discuss the matter with the club committed to giving him the time he needs.
Ahead of Tuesday’s crunch clash with Atletico Madrid the German said: “Ronald is not ready at the moment. It’s a private situation. I don’t want to say more. Please also respect it. This is what I can say and what I want to say.”
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Flick’s comments come after Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Friday that he wanted to ‘support and defend’ the club’s captain – who had been subject to unfair criticism.
He said: “He has been heavily criticised, and I don’t think that’s fair. He gives his all on the pitch, he’s our captain, and now he needs to get through this difficult period because he’s a very emotional person with strong feelings. He’s had a tough time, and I want to tell him that we’re behind him, that he needs to turn the page because here we all win and we all lose, and no one person is responsible for defeats or victories.”
Ronald Araujo was sent-off in last week’s loss at Chelsea
Araúuo has been at Barcelona since 2018, having initally joining the B team before being promoted to the first team. He has gone on to make 190 appearances for the Catalan giants in all competitions, scoring 12 times.
Flick’s side went top of La Liga at the weekend after seeing Real Madrid drop points. Los Blancos are also in action and face Athletic Bilbao. Things remain tightly congested at the top with Atletico, who sit fourth, just three points off top spot. Villarreal are also in contention as they sit third.
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