After an excellent start to the new season, Barcelona appear to be in a troubled position as they have suffered four strokes due to injury since the start of the international break.
Ronald Araujo suffered a serious injury, as he suffered a blow in the friendly match against Iran. Experts believe that the defender broke his close, which he may see on the sidelines for a long time.
If the adductor muscle malfunctions, the Uruguayan may need to undergo surgery, which could lead to him losing the FIFA World Cup.
Araujo’s absence would be devastating for Barcelona, and even assuming the player simply broke his close, he is still expected to miss a large part of the season.
The defender could miss the entire October schedule, which includes crucial matches against Inter Milan, Villarreal and El Clasico against Real Madrid.
The Uruguay international may also miss matches against Bayern Munich and Valencia, until the November 7 meeting against Almeria UD.
This schedule, as rough as it sounds, is actually quite liberal given his injury. There is a chance that he will come out until the World Cup kicks off, and put his place there with Uruguay under a lot of pressure.
Araujo’s prolonged absence could have a significant impact on Barcelona’s hopes of keeping pace with Real Madrid for the title race, as well as the club’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League knockout rounds.
However, during the start of the season, the Barcelona board of directors prepared for such a disaster and, as such, did an excellent job of adding a great deal of depth to the first team.
With Araujo potentially long to miss, the onus should fall on the likes of Andreas Christensen and Eric Garcia to fill it up. Even Gerard Pique could see more excitement after a slow start to a campaign that saw only one start to the league