WATCH: Ronald Araujo balled out by teammate during Inter-Barcelona | OneFootball

It has been a tough year for Ronald Araujo, with the nadir probably coming against Inter, as he found himself ‘in the photo’ of Inter’s equaliser and winner in the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday. The Uruguayan has been dealing with heavy criticism in the aftermath of the game.

Last year in the Champions League, Araujo was at the end of the finger of blame as Barcelona went out at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, receiving a red card that changed the course of the tie. The 26-year-old then suffered an injury that kept him out for the rest of 2024 during the Copa America while playing for Uruguay.

On returning, he found his starting place gone with Inigo Martinez replacing him in the line-up. He has struggled to get back into the team, and against Inter, could not cover Francesco Acerbi in the dying moments at the Giuseppe Meazza, and was beaten by Marcus Thuram in extra time before the winner.

Heavy criticism for Ronald Araujo

Araujo was at the centre of criticism again, and ended up disabling comments on his social media, as he tried to deal with the barrage of hatred on social media. The Uruguayan had spoken after the match too, noting that he could have been helped had there been a covering defender against Thuram.

Fresh footage has emerged of Araujo seeming to complain about his teammates’ defending after Acerbi’s goal, but he gets an earful back from Pedri in response.

Araujo owns criticism of defending

On Friday Araujo addressed yet further criticism for what some interpreted as shirking responsibility with his comments after the match. ‘I’ve never been one to hide and I never will be,’ Araujo wrote on social media, explaining that he accepted the criticism.