Ronald Araújo, FC Barcelona captain, has missed two calls for the team since the Champions League match against Chelsea, when he made a reckless tackle on Marc Cucurella shortly after getting a yellow card for protesting, and was sent off in the 44th minute. Barça subsequently lost 3-0. The defender missed the LaLiga match against Alavés on Saturday, a 3-1 victory, and will miss Tuesday's match against Atlético de Madrid, at 21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT.
On Saturday, he was a last-minute absence, and the club simply said that he suffered a stomach virus. On Tuesday, the club did not said anything, but it has been reported that he has asked time to recover mentally, suffering anxiety after the Chelsea match, where he received all kinds of criticism. Barcelona manager Hansi Flick declined to talk about the matter in the press conference, simply saying that "Ronald is not ready yet, it's a private matter, and I ask that you respect it".
According to RTVE, a meeting was held on Monday at the Barça offices with the player's agents and club members.
Araújo was close to leaving the club last season, but ended up signing a new contract until 2031. Many critics found that Araújo's sending off was similar to the one he received in the quarter-final match of Champions League 2023/24 against PSG, an early straight red card after tackling Bradley Barcola, and Barcelona later lost the game.