The Barça defender completed a magnificent match in Uruguay’s victory over Brazil (2-0)
They will meet again face to face in the Classic on the 28th at the Lluís Companys
The duels between Ronald Araujo and Vinicius are on their way to becoming a football classic. Everyone is looking out for them. The Uruguayan defender is a true nightmare for the Brazilian, who has acknowledged that it is the play that “has defended me the best” but the Blaugrana has also suffered a lot to tie the Real Madrid player down short when he has been inspired.
But it could be said that in his particular duels, Araujo clearly wins. Last morning the ‘dance’ was playing again between the two in the duel between Uruguay and Brazil in a qualifying match for the World Cup.
Unlike the duels between Barça and Real Madrid, in which Xavi places Araujo on the right wing to stop Viniciuson this occasion the Uruguayan acted as a central defender moved to the right and despite seeing a yellow card in the 10th minute for a clear foul on Gabriel Jesus He was very safe at the back, without making mistakes and without rushing.
His numbers in the match against Brazil are spectacular. He was the best in the match in clearances and headed clearances (4), won four of his five aerial duels, was the second player in the match to win the most individual duels (6) and only committed one foul. In the construction phase he made six passes in the last third of the field.
A great game for Araujo, the complete opposite of what Vinicius experienced. The Brazilian striker neither knew nor could have hurt an insurmountable Uruguayan defense. The Brazilian team showed very little play and the Madrid player, as usually happens in the Spanish League, got lost protesting the referee and demanding fouls and cards for his opponents..
The Brazilians were also a bit shocked by Neymar’s possible serious injury.
At the end of the match, Araujo was ecstatic. “We played a great game against a great rival. Brazil has powerful individuals but we did very well,” he said. And he once again made his commitment to the national team very clear despite the fact that some voices questioned it.
The next duel, on the 28th
Last season Araujo missed the first classic and Real Madrid won 3-1 with Vinicius making a big difference to Barça on the right. In the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Arabia, Xavi was already able to place the Uruguayan on the wing to stop ‘Vini’ and completely canceled him out. In addition, it coincided with one of the best games of the Xavi era at Barça.
From that moment on, the formula was repeated in the other three classics. They went very well in the first two with 0-1 victories in the first leg of the Copa del Rey, a match in which the Blaugrana had to defend beautifully, and 2-1 in the second round of the League with that key goal from Kessie in the final minutes.
The Araujo solution to stop Vinicius, yes, did not go so well in the Cup return at the Spotify Camp Nou Well, Real Madrid beat Barça 0-4 with a goal and an assist from the Brazilian. It is one of the few individual duels in which he has emerged victorious.
The next ‘dance’ will be on the 28th at the Lluís Companys stadium, in a match that, depending on the results of this next day, could be even more important.