Araujo vs Vinicius Jr: How Barca defender became Brazilian's kryptonite (2024)

“Vinicius Junior is the most decisive footballer in the world.”

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti made that bold statement last month, heaping praise on his side’s joint-top scorer this season.

Xavi might disagree. The Barcelona boss came up with a plan to stop the scintillating Brazil winger after he helped dismantle the Catalan giants in the 2022 Supercopa de Espana semi-final, which Real won 3-2.

That plan was Ronald Araujo. Three Clasicos later, the Uruguay defender has become Vinicius Jr’s kryptonite.

In March last year, Xavi decided to deploy Araujo at right-back to counter the Brazilian’s threat from the left wing for Madrid. Barca won that game at the Santiago Bernabeu 4-0, Vinicius Jr was nullified and the plan stuck.

Araujo has played as a right-back against Madrid three times (four including a 1-0 friendly victory against Real in July last year). Barcelona have won all three and Vinicius Jr has failed to score or provide an assist in those meetings.

Though three official games are a small sample size, the numbers are telling. Vinicius Jr has averaged 4.7 attempted dribbles per game with Araujo playing at right-back. In all other matches for Madrid, he has attempted an average of 8.1 dribbles per match.

Vinicius Jr usually completes 3.1 dribbles per game, but that figure falls to 2.3 in those three matches against Barca. He has been restricted to just 1.3 shots per game in those Clasico meetings, compared to his usual average of 2.7. In terms of Vinicius Jr’s duels with Araujo in those three games, the 22-year-old has tried to take on the Uruguayan four times. He has come out on top just once.

“Ronald is a duel winner,” Xavi said this month. “He wins them running into space. He wins them by being aggressive in the forward press. He wins them in aerial disputes. He’s one of the best in the world in defensive tasks, a fundamental piece for us no matter where he plays.”

Those qualities have all been evident in the three games Araujo neutralised Vinicius Jr. But each Clasico has shown a different side to the 24-year-old’s game: from daring Vinicius Jr to run past him in the 4-0 drubbing last year to relentlessly pressing the winger in Barca’s 3-1 Supercopa final win in January. Then Araujo showed his qualities when playing in a low block as Barca ground out a 1-0 victory against Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg this month.

Before Madrid’s visit to Camp Nou on Sunday, The Athletic has analysed those three matches to explain how Barca found the perfect antidote to combat the dangers of one of the world’s best players.

Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona, La Liga, March 20, 2022

The first game Araujo played at right-back against Vinicius Jr came after Dani Alves endured a torrid time against his fellow Brazilian in the Supercopa semi-final earlier that season.

The Uruguayan had no such problems against Real’s star forward here and even scored from a corner to round off a fine performance. Araujo thrived in a man-marking system against Vinicius Jr and even when he lost the ball, he was able to rely on his one-on-one prowess to get him out of trouble.

Here we see Araujo losing possession in the fifth minute as Barca looked to build an attack. Toni Kroos recovers and looks to set Vinicius Jr off on a run in behind Barca’s defence.

But Araujo could afford to make this mistake. His physicality and underrated pace allowed him to track back, catch Vinicius Jr and produce a left-shoulder charge to dispossess the Brazilian.

You might think that physical burst was a last resort for Araujo, but look what happened within 30 seconds of that incident.

Madrid regained possession quickly and launched another attack down their left flank, with Vinicius Jr keen to fully test Barca’s new right-back. Luka Modric has a clear run ahead of him and can wait for the winger to get up to full speed before taking full advantage of the huge space behind Araujo — who is his side’s last man in defence.

Modric waits until the right moment to pass to Vinicius Jr. The Brazilian is on the run, but Araujo sticks with the forward and refuses to back down.

Araujo’s combination of pace and physicality is too much for Vinicius Jr again. The Uruguayan outmuscles the Madrid winger and takes the ball off him before he can go on one of his trademark runs.

Madrid clearly wanted to exploit the left-hand channel, as shown by the below example. This was Vinicius Jr’s third duel with Araujo and it came in the seventh minute.

Kroos again tries to find Vinicius Jr in behind Barca’s defence, playing a pass into considerable space. Araujo is wrong-footed and the Brazilian has the advantage over the Uruguayan in terms of getting to the ball.

Again, however, Araujo catches up with Vinicius Jr — the third time he has done so in six minutes. The below image shows how far the right-back is from the other members of Barca’s defence — Gerard Pique, Eric Garcia and Jordi Alba — who track back at full speed but who are unable to keep up with Araujo and Vinicius Jr.

Ancelotti’s team started the game with the clear intention to focus their attacks through Vinicius Jr — Karim Benzema was out injured — but they ran into an unexpected obstacle. Araujo’s man-marking job helped set Barca on their way to an imposing win — apart from a 3-1 win for Real in October where the Uruguayan was unavailable through injury, Xavi’s side have never looked back.

Real Madrid 1-3 Barcelona, Supercopa final, January 15, 2023

On to this season. After missing the first Clasico of the season with injury, Araujo returned to the right-back spot for the Supercopa final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This was an entirely different game from Barca’s thrashing of Madrid 10 months previously. Xavi’s team were better from a collective point of view and their defensive setup was vastly improved.

Araujo was not forced to track back so much this time. Instead, Barca’s high press excelled and Araujo did not let Vinicius Jr have a moment’s respite. As soon as the Brazilian controlled the ball, the Uruguayan would instantly pounce to stop him from turning.

Here we see Antonio Rudiger playing out from the back to Vinicius Jr. There is a big gap between Araujo and Vinicius Jr and the right-back appears to be at a disadvantage.

But when the ball arrives at Vinicius Jr’s feet, Araujo is already there. Ousmane Dembele has also come across to limit the winger’s options.

Araujo uses his body to unsettle Vinicius Jr and wrestle possession away from his opponent.

Araujo never left Vinicius Jr’s side, even when the Brazilian dropped deep to create more space for Real. Here the winger was looking to provide an outlet for Madrid after an attacking spell from Barca, but Araujo was on hand to win an aerial duel against his man.

Ancelotti ended up instructing Vinicius Jr to cut inside, with Benzema moving out wide to draw Araujo’s attention away from his attacking partner. But Vinicius Jr found no joy in those central positions and lacked service from others as Madrid were totally outclassed.

According to Opta, Vinicius Jr finished with no shots and no chances created. This was probably Barcelona’s most complete performance under Xavi and showed the Araujo plan was here to stay.

Real Madrid 0-1 Barcelona, Copa del Rey semi-final first leg, March 2, 2023

The latest chapter of Vinicius Jr vs Araujo. This time, Araujo did not press as aggressively as he had done in the Supercopa final or look to keep up with Vinicius Jr’s runs down the wing as he had done in last year’s demolition of Madrid.

Instead, Barcelona were forced to sit back and survive — and Araujo duly obliged. But the Uruguayan shone in survival mode, playing a crucial role in an impressive defensive performance from Xavi’s side.

It was a different story from the start of the game. In the sixth minute, Vinicius Jr received the ball in a dangerous position and headed for goal. Rather than immediately press him, Araujo gave him space and waited for the Brazilian’s next move.

When Vinicius Jr reached the box, Araujo’s strategy became clear: he forced the winger onto his weaker left foot.

Vinicius Jr shaped to produce a cross but Araujo got across to block it, conceding a corner.

Araujo would allow the ball to run across to Vinicius Jr’s left foot, knowing it would result in a low-quality final ball. It was just as effective further from goal, too, as shown by the following example.

Araujo again forced Vinicius Jr into a cross with his left foot and this was easily saved by Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who was adept at reading cutbacks from both sides.

Vinicius Jr’s latest battle with Araujo was by the far the one that exasperated him the most. The forward seemed powerless and exhausted against the Uruguayan and his decision-making suffered as a result.

The Brazilian took so long to decide how to dribble past Araujo in the 66th minute that he allowed Sergio Busquets to drop back and help out his right-back.

The result? Vinicius Jr was trapped and dispossessed by the two Barca players.

It was striking how much Vinicius Jr tried to cut inside or drop deep in the second half to avoid Araujo.

Of the three matches analysed, this was the one in which Madrid’s star forward produced the most touches (71) — but none of them were in the right areas.

By the second half, it was clear Araujo was in Vinicius Jr’s head. In this example, the winger found himself in the perfect position to test Araujo, with a huge gap behind the right-back.

But this was Araujo, so Vinicius Jr looked to try something else instead. In this case, he lobbed a pass towards Benzema but it didn’t reach the striker.

All of which sets things up nicely for Araujo and Vinicius Jr’s next battle at Camp Nou on Sunday. Barcelona have the chance to go 12 points clear at the top of La Liga and Araujo will be called upon again to defuse the threat posed by the Madrid forward.

Expect another hotly contested duel, more tactical tweaks from both dugouts and two players full of motivation to prove themselves again. The latest chapter in El Clasico’s new greatest personal rivalry promises more fireworks.

Pol joined The Athletic in 2021, initially moving to Manchester to assist us with our Manchester City, Manchester United and Spanish reporting. Since 2015 he has been an English football correspondent for multiple Spanish media, such as Diario Sport and RAC1 radio station. He has also worked for The Times. In 2019, he co-wrote the book Pep’s City: The Making of a Superteam. He will now move back to Spain, covering FC Barcelona for The Athletic. Follow Pol on Twitter @polballus