Can Araujo keep his starting place? The battle with Christensen has begun

Ronald Araujo wore the captain's armband for Barça's first appearance in LaLiga EA Sports 25/26. The Uruguayan center-back responded in his first match and hopes to establish himself as the starting center-back in Flick's team.

After the victory in Mallorca, the '4' culé expressed in 'Movistar+' that the match was played in high temperatures, but that was not an impediment for his team to demonstrate a good level on the field. "It was very hot, but the team came out with that intensity that characterizes us," he said.

"Happy because what we wanted was seen from the beginning. In the first half they also had two impulses and had to pull back more and we were able to control the game very well. Happy to start adding here, a always difficult field. Three points and keep going," was Araujo's analysis of Barça's first victory of the season.

Beyond the victory, Araujo was asked about the play prior to the goal scored by Ferran Torres, in which the Mallorca players stopped after seeing Antonio Raíllo fall to the ground, to which the defender responded, "the referee didn't whistle and until he whistles you have to continue the play."

Ronald Araujo, a wall in Son Moix

Ronald Araujo, in his first appearance of 25/26, became a shadow for the RCD Mallorca forwards in Son Moix. His numbers in defense were outstanding.

The Uruguayan defender intercepted a ball, made 5 clearances, had 2 interceptions and 4 recoveries. He was not dribbled past in the 90 minutes. In addition, he won 2 of the 3 aerial duels he had in the match. A real wall.

In that sense, Flick can be calm, for now, with the 'charrúa' as a companion of Pau Cubarsí. The loss of Iñigo Martínez, although sensitive, will be much more bearable if the '4' maintains a 'top' level, up to the level of his experience and hierarchy within the dressing room.

Christensen ran out of minutes in Mallorca

Barça has two right-profile defenders with a lot of quality. Ronald Araujo has earned the starting position in the first changes. However, he knows that he must maintain his level because Andreas Christensen is waiting for his opportunity.

The Danish center-back scored a good goal against FC Seoul on the Asian tour and showed a good level in the final stretch of 24/25. However, he ran out of minutes on the first day of the League, as did Marc Casadó.

One of the aerial problems that Araujo had in Son Moix was in the ground duels: he did not win any of the 4 he had in the match. Also, he committed 4 fouls, although he was not cautioned. For this reason, the Rivera player must correct these aspects if he does not want to lose his starting position.