FC Barcelona got important three points in the Champions League group stage as they won the match against Porto 1-0. However, the victory came at a significant price for the team.
The whole of the team was pushed to the limit as they tried to come out victorious while having only a thin lead, and with Porto trying till the last minute to get something out of the match. The major misfortune for Barcelona on the night was the injury to Robert Lewandowski, as he limped off the pitch a few minutes after the half-hour mark.
Araujo limping out of the match
However, as SPORT has reported, Lewandowski was not the only player who left the pitch in physical agony. Ronald Araujo also left the pitch with cramps and was visibly limping as he left the pitch after the full-time whistle.
However, unlike Lewandowski, Araujo is not expected to miss much game time with this issue and will be available to play from the start in the next match against Granada. However, caution is still warranted in his case because of the injury history of the defender, who recovered only a few days ago from another physical issue that he suffered after the first match of this La Liga campaign.
Fatigue taking its toll
The lack of severity of this problem is highlighted by the fact that Araujo was able to defend the Barcelona box under a lot of pressure from Porto, who tried to capitalize on their numerical superiority following Gavi’s red card in the dying embers of the game.
The defender’s expressions also showed that the physical pain he was suffering surfaced only from the fatigue that he had accumulated from playing a high-intensity match, and not from any underlying injury.
Thus, while this latest physical setback to Araujo is not expected to cost the team much, it still goes on to show the importance of proper game management in such a highly congested fixture list.
Barcelona has already seen several of its squad members go out with injuries, and Xavi will have to keep on making rotations in the coming matches to ensure his team survives the difficult season ahead.
