Despite having the opportunity to go level on points with Sevilla with a win, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez is planning on resting a crucial part of his defence for the crunch tie.
Ronald Araujo put in an excellent performance from right-back in El Clasico at the weekend, starting ahead of Dani Alves in the role. Diario AS reporter Javier Miguel has reported that he will start from the bench in Barcelona’s next match however.
With Araujo facing several thousand air miles on international duty with Uruguay, including two fiercely contested matches against Chile and Bolivia, the technical staff are concerned about pushing him to the point of injury. The defender has already missed seven matches this season.
With Sergino Dest already injured, Xavi may be relying on Araujo to deputise at right-back again during their Europa League quarter-final match against Eintracht Frankfurt. Although Dani Alves is a capable option for the Sevilla match, he has not been registered for the Europa League. Therefore any injury to the Uruguayan would force Barcelona to improvise even further in Europe, perhaps calling on Oscar Mingueza to play on the right.
