With the first El Clasico of the season only three days away, FC Barcelona manager Hansi Flick is still weighing up his options for the lineup he will field at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Most of the starting spots seem to be sorted, but the Barça head coach has a couple of doubts, one of which is in the defensive department.
While Pau Cubarsi is a guaranteed starter at the heart of the Blaugrana defence, Flick has to choose his partner, with Eric Garcia and Ronald Araujo both vying for a berth.
Araujo gunning for a start
Now, according to MARCA, Araujo is pushing strongly for a return to the starting line-up. Leaving him out for a third consecutive match would be a significant setback for the Uruguayan.
As per the report, the Barcelona captain ‘did not take kindly’ to being left out of the starting XI vs Olympiacos this past Tuesday, especially as it came after he had scored the match-winning goal against Girona – again after coming off the bench.
Garcia has been very impressive for Barça this season, be it at centre-back or at right-back, and is very much in contention to start.
However, the pace and power that the Real Madrid attacking unit, led by Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr., possesses could swing the balance in favour of Araujo.
The 26-year-old defender wants to be an important player in the team and being benched for three games in a row, that too for an all-important El Clasico, could come as a gutting blow.
So, Flick has a major decision to make in defence, with Araujo pushing for a start alongside Cubarsi at the centre of the Barcelona backline.
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