‘It’s a private matter’ – Hansi Flick confirms Ronald Araujo is still not ready to return for Barcelona

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has confirmed that Ronald Araujo will miss Tuesday’s La Liga match against Atlético Madrid and left his status up in the air for the upcoming games.

Araujo hasn’t been seen since his disastrous red card in the Champions League defeat to Chelsea last week for which the Uruguayan has been heavily criticized, and he missed the weekend victory against Alavés with what the club called a “stomach virus”.

Some reports in the last few days claim Araujo is still very affected by what happened at Stamford Bridge and is taking a break to mentally reset before he comes back into the fold, and Flick was asked in a press conference on Monday if that’s indeed the case.

The coach declined to elaborate on Araujo’s status and simply said he’s not ready, and also asked reporters to respect Araujo’s privacy.

“Araujo isn’t ready to play yet. We’ve been working on Raphinha; he only did the rondo and then stopped. I’m confident he can play the whole match. Ronald isn’t ready; it’s a private matter, and I don’t want to say more. I would ask you to respect their wishes; that’s all I can and will say.”

There is no doubt that what’s going on with Araujo is a lot more serious than just a stomach bug, and it proves that even professional athletes at the highest level are not immune to mental health issues and, like all of us, need some time and privacy to process difficult moments.