Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo had to be left out of international duty with the Uruguayan national team for their ongoing friendlies against Japan and South Korea due to an injury (an overload) in the left leg adductor. However, recent reports emerging from Spain present optimistic news.
Recently reported by Diario AS, the Uruguayan has shown immense recovery strength and speed, as he currently is expected to return to full fitness even before his originally defined date of return against Real Madrid on the 5th of April.
According to the most recent reports, the player would now in fact be expected to return as soon as the 1st of April, when Barcelona travel to face bottom-placed Elche in La Liga Santander.
This news regarding Araujo comes at a very vital moment for FC Barcelona, as they are currently having to endure losing key players such as Pedri, Ousmane Dembele, Frenkie De Jong (although the Dutchman is expected to return for El Clasico), and most recently, Andreas Christensen, who was injured during his international duty with the Denmark national team and is now expected to remain on the sidelines for 3-4 weeks.
This leaves Xavi Hernandez with a major defensive dilemma against Elche, as he will likely be tempted to rest both Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde as they would have just recently returned from international duties with the French and Spanish national teams, respectively.
This leaves a probable lineup of Ronald Araujo and Eric Garcia covering the central channels of the defense, while Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto cover either flank. Marcos Alonso also remains an option but it is unlikely that Xavi risks his deployment just days before the ever-important El Clasico, which would be the second leg of the Copa Del Ray semi-final, with Barcelona having a 1-0 advantage from the away leg.
Araujo’s injury update is a bright light during some recent cloudy days, and his return marks excellent news for FC Barcelona staff and fans alike.
