BARCELONA – Ronald Araújo, as reported by Barcelona through a medical statement, is suffering from a sprain in his left ankle the scope of which was not reported by the Barça club but is concerned within the entity to the point that he is practically excluded for the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against PSG on the 16th could hit him in the light of the return game to be played in Paris on March 10th.
The first investigation the Uruguayan center-back was subjected to this Monday in Barcelona confirmed the existence of a severe sprain, and did not rule out the possibility that he could have another bone condition that would aggravate the injury and extend his period of absence by at least a month, which meant that Ronald Koeman could not count on him, in the worst case to a total of nine games, five in the League, the Champions League draw against PSG and the Copa del Rey semi-final against Sevilla, whose first leg was played on Wednesday and whose return game will be played at Camp Nou on March 3.
The competition matches in question are those that Barça will have to play against Alavés, Cádiz, Elche, Sevilla and Osasuna.
Araújo, who did not reserve the coach against Betis on Sunday (he let Messi, De Jong and Pedri out of the starting eleven), barely played the first 12 minutes of the game and left the field with strong signs of pain that were already venturing. the seriousness of the situation and that leaves the Barcelona team very affected in their defense.
WRAPPED UP
The Uruguayan defender, who has become indisputable for Koeman, joins the loss of Gerard Piqué, injured since November and who has made surprising progress in his recovery … But whose return to PSG next week is too hasty.
In this way, the coach could only count on Lenglet, Umtiti and Mingueza in the center of the defense … Without forgetting that the loss of Sergi Roberto leaves only Sergiño Dest as an available right back and that the young North American defender remains uncomfortable, so it wouldn’t be ruled out that Mingueza would return to the band and that only the French couple would be left to play in the center of the defense.