Following their victory against Real Sociedad by a score of 1-0 over the weekend, Barcelona had the opportunity to strengthen their play and come back with a stronger showing when they faced Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League in the middle of the week.
However, the magnitude of their disappointment was compounded tonight since they turned in yet another lackluster performance and, on top of that, they did not bring all three points back with them.
Danylo Sakin scored the only goal of the game for Shakhtar in the first half, and it was enough to give them the victory. Barcelona was only able to have one shot on target throughout the entire match.
To make matters even worse, the star of the Sociedad game, Ronald Araujo, appeared to be in a fair amount of discomfort as the game’s final minutes progressed, and he was limping visibly as he walked.
The good news is that SPORT has claimed that Araujo suffered from some discomfort, and all signs point to the player not being harmed. However, he will have to go through some final tests tomorrow, and the results of those tests will determine whether or not he will be available to play against Deportivo Alaves this coming weekend.
The severity of Araujo’s wounds is starting to cause concern.
When healthy, Ronald Araujo is one of the most valuable commodities that Barcelona possesses. He is a fantastic defender who is able to deal effectively with offensive challenges and is capable of stifling the play of the finest forwards in Europe with relatively little effort.
However, the ongoing issues he’s having with his injuries are becoming increasingly concerning.
After the first game of the season, which was played against Getafe, Araujo suffered an injury and was out for a few gameweeks as a result. In addition, during the previous season, he only played in 22 of the league’s matches and was injured for the majority of the other contests.
The upcoming holiday will be spent abroad.
The upcoming international break is going to make an already difficult situation much more difficult for Barcelona. After this weekend’s matches, players will head off to compete in friendly and qualifying matches for their respective countries.
In the CONMEBOL qualifications that will be taking place during this time, Uruguay will square off against Argentina and Bolivia. Because Araujo plays such an important role in Marcelo Bielsa’s system for the Uruguayan national team, he will undoubtedly be selected for the team and will almost certainly participate in both matches.