Messi vs Ronaldo has a successor: Araújo vs Vinícius

A battle of the giants took place again at the Bernabéu on Thursday night

It’s becoming something of a familiar sight to see Vinícius Júnior pick up the ball and carry it down the left flank only to run into the brick wall that is Ronald Araújo in a Blaugrana shirt on the right of the Barcelona defence.

The casual spectator may have been surprised to see the Uruguayan playing out on the right. He does, after all, usually player in the middle of Barcelona’s defensive unit. His height and build are more like that of a central defender than a right-back.

But as Barcelona fans know, this is nothing new. Xavi has placed Araújo on the right of the back four specifically to handle Vinícius ever since the historic 4-0 win that he recorded in his first visit to the Bernabéu as the team’s coach.

“Ronald, you’re not there for the attack. You’re there to control Vinícius,” Xavi told the defender in the team’s pre-match meeting at the team hotel in Madrid before travelling to the game. He did that, and it worked.

And for Real Madrid fans, it’s quite simply terrible news. In their meetings to date, Ronald Araujo will feel that he’s won pretty much all of them.

Vinícius has scored only once with Araújo on the pitch, but that came in the 2021/22 Spanish Super Cup when Araújo was playing in central defence alongside Gerard Piqué with Vini’s compatriot Dani Alves tasked with marking him.

It was in fact Vinícius tearing Alves apart that led to Xavi bringing on Nico and moving Araújo to the right for this battle for the first time. Since then, it’s been a different story, and the Brazilian has not been involved in a goal in a Clásico since.

Against Barcelona on Thursday night in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg, it was clearer than ever. Vinícius has averaged 14.83 take-ons per 90 across the last six matches, but managed just five against Araújo.

The winger looked scared to get involved, almost intimidated. He was rash in his decision-making, almost seeking to skip away from Araújo when he stepped towards him, instead delivering cross after cross into the box with no end result.

That plays into Araújo’s hands. He knows that his pace cannot match that of the Brazilian, but he looks to counteract that. “We obviously know the ability and the speed that he has, and that Vinícius is a great player,” Araújo himself reflected on the battle. “I try not to let him try to get in behind me, I look for the duels, to come face to face.”

Rarely do two teams come face to face and their best players come head to head in a direct battle against one another, even more so in a fixture like El Clásico. With a host of other stars missing, Araújo was arguably the best Barcelona player in that line-up. He stepped up for Xavi on Thursday night. Another clash with Vinícius, another notch on his belt.