Ronald Araujo pinpoints what Barcelona must improve after Intercity scare

Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has admitted that the team is struggling to hold onto leads and kills games off after needing extra-time to see off lower league Intercity in the Copa del Rey.

The Catalans took the lead three times against the third tier club, with Araujo scoring first after only a few minutes. But Intercity struck back on each occasion through Oriol Soldevila, who finished the 90 minutes with a hat-trick to his name.

Ansu Fati eventually won it for Barcelona in extra-time.

Araujo, who was making his first appearance for the club since surgery on a thigh muscle in September, referred back to the 2020/21 Copa del Rey when Barça needed extra-time against Cornella, then a third tier club, Granada and Sevilla en-route to lifting the trophy.

The Uruguayan added, however, that similar mistakes already seen in the 1-1 draw with Espanyol last weekend cropped up again.

“Football is like that, the Copa we won [in 2021] always went to extra-time. It should serve us to learn from it and correct things,” Araujo told media after the game.

“We have to know how to kill the games, not thinking that we have won it. It already happened to us against Espanyol. We got ahead very quickly on the scoreboard [against Intercity] and conceded a strategic goal that was their weapon. The Copa is like that.”

Despite dropping points against Espanyol last time out, Barcelona remain top of La Liga ahead of Real Madrid on goal difference – head to head record only comes into it when they have played both Clasicos – and will face Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

But they go into the next stretch of games without Robert Lewandowski, whose three-match ban stemming from a red card back in November was upheld following another appeal this week.