Barcelona learn extent of Ronald Araujo injury setback | OneFootball

Barcelona fans can afford to breathe a sigh of relief over Ronald Araujo, after the defender was forced off just 22 minutes into Sunday's La Liga clash with Sevilla.

Araujo only returned from a long-term hamstring injury in mid-January and has quickly racked up eight appearances across four competitions to underline his importance to the team.

The Uruguay international has also taken over the captain's armband since getting back, ranked higher in the captains list than Frenkie de Jong and Raphinha, who primarily led in the first half of the season once overall skipper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was sidelined.

So it was a concern to see Araujo unable to continue against Sevilla after being on the receiving end of a heavy challenge midway through the first half.

But fears of another significant layoff seem to have already been allayed. MARCA has reported that tests carried out on Araujo on Monday have revealed no major damage, only bruising. That marries up with Hansi Flick's initial assessment at the time that the issue "does not seem serious".

With Barcelona not in action again until facing Rayo Vallecano on Monday 17 February, benefitting from being able to bypass the Champions League knockout play-offs and a delayed weekend fixture, it is possible that Araujo won't actually miss any games.

Even with Andreas Christensen ruled out with a muscle complaint following a long-term Achilles problem, Barcelona's centre-back pool is looking healthy. Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia were both available on the bench as cover at the weekend.