Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has spoken of respecting “codes and values” in response to team-mate Ilkay Gundogan’s comments on his sending-off against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Araujo, 25, was dismissed in the 29th minute of the second leg of the quarter-final on Tuesday. Barca had won the first leg in Paris 3-2 and led 1-0 at Montjuic following Raphinha’s 12th-minute opener, but the red card proved to be a turning point in the tie.
PSG ran out 4-1 winners in the second leg with four unanswered goals to advance to the semi-final stage with a 6-4 aggregate victory. After the match, Gundogan, 33, highlighted Araujo’s foul as “killing us” in respect to their hopes of progress.
“We were in such a good position after the first goal we scored (to go 4-2 up on aggregate),” the Germany international said immediately after the game. “It was all in our hands. We just gave it away to PSG in the most simple manner, and that’s the most disappointing part.
Ilkay Gundogan consoles Raphinha after the final whistle (Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“If Araujo fouled (Bradley) Barcola, I guess it’s a red card. I have not seen the replay yet so I don’t know if he got the ball, but it’s difficult to say. In these crucial moments, you need to be sure to get the ball. If you don’t get it, you have to stay away.
“Of course I would have preferred to concede a goal there, or give the striker a one v one against (goalkeeper Marc-Andre) Ter Stegen. Going down to 10 men with so much time to play just killed us.”
When asked directly what he thought about Gundogan’s comments, Araujo said: “I prefer to keep it with myself what I think about those comments. I have my codes and values that I think you need to respect.”
When pressed on whether he believed that Gundogan had not met those codes and values, Araujo said: “I think I have already replied to that question.”
Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen said of Araujo’s red card in the mixed zone after the game: “I don’t want to say it was a mistake from Araujo because he was going after the ball. But if the referee gives the foul there, then it’s a red card. That moment changed everything for us.”
Gundogan’s comments are not the first time that the former Manchester City player has publicly questioned his team-mates.
In October, he said he expected “more anger”, “more emotion” and “resistance” from his fellow players following their La Liga defeat to Real Madrid in El Clasico.
“I don’t want to say something wrong, to be honest,” Gundogan said after that match. “But I was now in the dressing room, and of course people are disappointed, but especially after such a big game and such a result, I wish (for) more frustration, more anger and more disappointment.
“This is a little bit the problem. I don’t know, there has to be more emotion, especially when you lose and you know you can perform better in certain situations, and you just don’t react and it transfers to the pitch.
“We need to make a huge step otherwise Real Madrid or even Girona is going to run away and I didn’t come here to lose this type of game and let the gap create.
“There’s also a responsibility from myself, a more experienced player, to not allow the squad to just let things happen. No, we need resistance.”
(Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
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