Barcelona Star 'Requests Leave of Absence' to Recover Mentally
Barcelona have granted a star player a leave of absence so that he can recover mentally, according to a report in Spain.
Barca returned to the win column following their bruising defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League by beating Alaves on Saturday.
The Catalan giants beat Alaves 3-1 as they resume their La Liga campaign on Tuesday when they host Atletico Madrid in a huge clash at the Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick will be without a key player for their fixture against Diego Simeone's side.
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That's because the club have granted Ronald Araujo a leave of absence so that he can recover mentally.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Araujo and his agent have made this request to the club because he doesn't see himself performing at his best right now and doesn't want to harm the team.
Barca have rallied around their club captain and granted him a period of recovery without setting any deadline because they want to get him back to full fitness.
Araujo was sent off in Barca's 3-0 defeat to Chelsea last week and the sending off has had a major impact on the player, who was the focus of criticism after the result.
Speaking ahead of his side's game against Atletico, Flick asked reporters to respect the 26-year-old's privacy.
"Araujo isn’t ready to play yet," he revealed. "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."
Club president Joan Laporta also came out in support of the Uruguayan defender.
"I want to encourage and defend Araujo," he said. "He’s been heavily criticised, and I don’t think that’s fair. He gives his all on the field, he’s our captain, and now he needs to get through this because he’s a very emotional person with strong feelings.
"He’s been through a tough time, and I want to tell him that we’re with him, that he needs to move on, because here we all win and we all lose, and no one person is solely responsible for the defeats or the victories."
Nasir Jabbar