Before the Clasico against Real Madrid, the Uruguayan defender of FC Barcelona bowed to the talent of a Real Madrid player.
Leader of La Liga with nine points ahead of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona will present themselves Sunday evening at Camp Nou with the firm intention of destroying the last hopes of their sworn enemy during the Clasico. However, the Catalan club knows that Real Madrid have players in their squad capable of playing a bad trick on them and tipping the match in their favor.
“Vinicius is number 1”
The Merengues obviously have the last Ballon d’Or, Karim Benzema, but also and above all Vinicius Junior, who has reached a milestone this season. The Brazilian is now one of the references to his position and some even see him among the best players on the planet, all positions combined, or even the best. Ronald Araujo, who risks being confronted with Vinicius Junior, knows what wood the Brazilian is made of.
In an interview with ESPN, Ronald Araujo praised Vinicius Junior, ranking him as the best player on the planet in one aspect of the game: “For me, Vinicius is number one in one-on-one today. He’s a very good player, very unbalanced. It’s difficult, obviously. But I’m working to be able to give my best in this genre. game. I’m happy that things are going well”.
“You have to take this match as a final”
Despite the immense respect for Vinicius Junior, the Uruguayan is confident about FC Barcelona’s chances of winning: “The team is fine, I’m fine and I can’t wait to play this important game. I think we have to take it like this (like a final) because it’s a very important game, we can make a big difference knowing that there is not much time left to finish La Liga.
“Today we see the fruits of our labor. Xavi came in the middle of last season and when you play a lot you can’t do a lot. I think in pre-season we we were able to work a lot defensively. The 4-0 at the Bernabeu was very important for us, because we were coming out of a difficult period, after several defeats against Madrid. I think this game allowed us to reverse a bit of the trend and to say “we are here, we are coming back”, a conclu Ronald Araujo.
This season, FC Barcelona leads 2-1 in its direct confrontations against Real Madrid and hopes to drive the point home this Sunday, before meeting its sworn enemy one last time on April 5 for the second leg of the semi-final of the King’s Cup, knowing that Barça will be able to settle for a draw after winning in the first leg.
