Barcelona manager Hansi Flick defended Ronald Araujo from the heavy criticism the center-back has received since the Champions League exit against Inter Milan last week.
The Uruguayan was blamed for his role in the two late goals scored by the Italians in added time and extra time, and did not feature at all in the win over Real Madrid at the weekend. Andreas Christensen seems to have passed Araujo in Flick’s pecking order, but the coach is still backing Ronald despite the outside noise.
Speaking in a press conference on Wednesday, Hansi was asked about Christensen and Araujo and was full of praise for the Dane while also taking time to defend Ronald, saying the defender needs to be treated with respect despite his mistakes.
> “Eric, Christensen, Araujo can play... Andreas is very good, I think he’s doing well. He’s fantastic and gives us a good level. I don’t like what happened with Ronald in Milan, I always protect my players.
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> “We all make mistakes. We all did in that game. Life is like that. We all make mistakes, but I think it’s also about respect.
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> “We have to protect him. It’s fine. We talk about these things. All of us who work in this have been in situations like this, you have to handle it well. You have to know how to handle it and you have to protect him.”
Criticism is part of sports, and players who decide to play sports at the highest level must be prepared for the criticism if they don’t do well. But there’s a big difference between criticism and abuse, and Araujo was definitely a victim of social media abuse after his mistakes against Inter. That obviously crosses the line, and it’s no surprise to see Flick protecting his guy.