Exit by ambulance of Araújo taints Barcelona victory


Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 11:34 PM• Rian Rosendaal • Last update: 23:40

Barcelona have a tighter hold on second place in LaLiga. Xavi saw his team win 3-1 against Celta de Vigo in their own Camp Nou on Tuesday evening. Memphis Depay, who operated from the left side of midfield, opened the score for the Catalans after half an hour of play. Frenkie de Jong also had a base place at Barcelona. Luuk de Jong was used as a substitute by Xavi in ​​the final phase. Ronald Araújo had to leave the field by ambulance after a collision with Gavi. The defender suffered a concussion and had to be taken to hospital for further examination. The lead on number three Sevilla is now seven points, although that club will play against Real Mallorca on Wednesday evening.

After fifteen minutes of play, it was a bit of a shock for Barcelona, ​​which had never lost in Laliga in 32 encounters on a Tuesday evening. Araújo made a mistake and gave Iago Aspas a free passage towards the goal. However, the centre-back was able to make up for his mistake just in time, much to the relief of himself and his teammates. Celta made a strong impression in the opening phase anyway, with at one point even 56 percent possession for the visitors. Nevertheless, Barcelona managed to break the spell after almost half an hour of play.

Ousmane Dembélé was two Celta players too early on the right, after which the wing attacker on the right of the sixteen passed the ball to Depay. The the Dutch international hit, although goalkeeper Matías Dituro did not look good with the Depay’s bet. On the other hand, Marc-André ter Stegen kept Barcelona ahead with a great reflex on a shot by Thiago Galhardo. Four minutes into the break, Depay was the principal in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 2-0. The Dutchman entered the penalty area and passed the ball to his fellow attacker. The Gabon striker took advantage of Celta’s poor defense and scored his third goal at the Camp Nou with a bang into the right corner since his arrival in January.

The same Aubameyang was again important for Barcelona three minutes after the break, where Ferran Torres was replaced by Riqui Puig in the half. Dembele was not put in the way on the right wing by Celta’s defenders and the winger could easily give in to Aubameyang. The former Arsenal striker came running from afar and then shot the ball impeccably into the bottom left corner: 3-0. The joy of the goalscorer and his teammates was remarkably great. Celta don’t give up his third Barcelona goal, which resulted in the tie-up goal just two minutes later. A poor pass by Ter Stegen on Araújo was intercepted by Galhardo, who enabled Aspas to score the 3-1. It was already the tenth goal of the 34-year-old Celta striker against Barcelona this century, the same number as former attacker Forlán.

Celta smelled blood and seemed to shake Barcelona for a moment. After almost an hour of playing at the Camp Nou, there was a windfall for Xavi’s formation. Jeison Murillo, who was only thirteen minutes in the field as a substitute, was immediately shown red when he took down the broken Depay. The latter then took care of the free kick just outside the box. His effort went just wide of Celta’s goal. Shortly afterwards, the hapless Araújo had to be stretchered off the field after hitting Gavi’s head. Not only the central defender, but also Depay went to the side at Barcelona after 65 minutes of play. The accurate attacker was relieved by Ansu Fati.

Celta continued to pose a threat despite the undercount situation. With twenty minutes left to play, Aspas was on his way to Ter Stegen’s goal, to opt for the pass to Brais Méndez. Barcelona were eventually able to prevent the 3-2, but it indicated that the game was not yet played. On the other hand, Dembélé went down to the ground in the box after a rush from the right, but the French attacker failed to score. In the 77th minute, substitute Riqui Puig seemed to make it 4-1 for Barcelona from close range, but the midfielder was called back for offside. Xavi decided to send Luuk de Jong off the field after 84 minutes to replace Aubameyang. The introduction of the strong striker seemed to have an immediate impact. However, he was unable to convert a cross from Dani Alves into a goal with a header. Barcelona took the win after more than ten minutes of stoppage time. Xavi’s winning team will visit Getafe on Sunday.

No. Team m W G V † Pnt
1 Real Madrid 35 25 6 4 43 81
2 Barcelona 36 21 9 6 32 72
3 Seville 35 17 14 4 22 65
4 Atletico Madrid 35 19 7 9 19 64
5 Real Betis 36 18 7 11 20 61
6 Real Sociedada 35 15 11 9 0 56
7 Villarreal 35 14 11 10 21 53
8 Athletic Club 36 13 13 10 6 52
9 Osasuna 35 12 10 13 -10 46
10 Valencia 36 10 14 12 -7 44
11 Celta de Vigo 36 11 10 15 1 43
12 Rayo Vallecano 35 11 9 15 -4 42
13 Espanyol 35 10 10 15 -12 40
14 Elche 35 10 9 16 -11 39
15 getafe 35 8 13 14 -6 37
16 Granada 36 8 13 15 -15 37
17 Cadiz 35 7 14 14 -14 35
18 Real Majorca 35 8 8 19 -30 32
19 Levante 35 6 11 18 -23 29
20 Alaves 35 7 7 21 -32 28