04 Ronald Araujo of FC Barcelona and 24 Eric Garcia of FC Barcelona during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Elche CF at Spotify Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, on September 17th, 2022. (Photo by Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Gill Clark Gill Clark is the site manager of Barca Blaugranes and joined in 2017. She has worked in sports media as a writer and editor for the best part of two decades and has been in love with the beautiful game for as long as she can remember.
Eric Garcia says he didn’t take over Ronald Araujo’s No. 4 shirt at Barcelona out of respect for his team-mate following his departure for Liverpool.
Araujo has left on a season-long loan to the Premier League start and has made a good start to life at Anfield with Andoni Iraola’s side.
Garcia had the chance to switch numbers this summer but opted against taking Araujo’s number.
He told Cadena SER: “Ronald has left on loan for a year and, if everything goes well, he will return. It’s his number, out of respect for him I didn’t want to take it.”
Garcia also spoke about Barcelona’s Champions League hopes and says the team are confident after making a strong start to the season: “It’s everyone’s goal. We have a very complete squad with a lot of quality and competition. But LaLiga has to be a major objective. The Champions League sometimes comes down to coin tosses, and that has an impact.”
Barcelona’s next Champions League outing is after the international break in October when Flick’s side head to PSG to face Luis Enrique’s men.