The draws for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals were held today, and the Catalan club was matched with the French powerhouse Paris Saint Germain for this stage of the tournament.
Without any doubt, one of the players that Xavi’s men will have to be most wary about in this tie is the French forward, Kylian Mbappe, who is one of the best players in the world right now.
As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the quality and threat of the winger was recognized by one of the Barcelona defenders, Ronald Araujo ahead of this match. Talking in an interview with TV3, Araujo said about the winger:
“He’s a great opponent, a great player. For me, nowadays, he’s the most disruptive in one-on-one situations and a very important player for them.”
Xavi has frequently used Araujo on the flank whenever his side faces a tricky winger, and this has especially been the case for El Clasicos, in which the Uruguayan has been a very effective tool in containing the threat posed by Vinicius Junior.
Thus, in the match against PSG, Araujo is once again expected to take on the position on the flank, but the defender was not yet sure of where he is going to play:
“I still don’t know what position I’m going to play, but we know the quality of player he is. They also have Ousmane, who we had here, who is also very good in one-on-one situations, and we’ll try to counteract that skill of theirs, as well as with our own style of play.”
Araujo is definitely going to be a very important player for Xavi in this match, and his performance can determine which team ends up in the semi-finals to a significant extent.
Thus, Xavi and Barcelona fans throughout the world would be hoping to witness a defensive masterclass from the Uruguayan so their team can go another step in the premier European tournament.
