Everything changed for Ronald Araujo on November 25, 2025, at Stamford Bridge. His sending-off against Chelsea was the final trigger for a reactive anxiety disorder. But the Uruguayan's crisis had been brewing for some time. The ARA already explained then that, at the club, there were already those who were worried sick, that Araujo was carrying problems that went beyond the physical issue since the painful tie against PSG last season with Xavi Hernández on the bench.

Ronald Araujo has been out of action for mental health reasons for a week. After being sent off against Chelsea in a very unfortunate incident with Marc Cucurella, the Uruguayan center-back suffered from reactive anxiety, forcing him to stop playing professional football. As the ARA explained, the situation has been brewing for a long time. The incident at Stamford Bridge was merely the catalyst for the player to inform the club that he is not psychologically prepared to compete at the highest level. He has already missed four official matches and there is no date set for his return.

At this point, the fundamental role by Alejandro Echevarría In today's Barça, he can no longer hide. Joan Laporta's former brother-in-law holds the keys to the first team's dressing room. He is far more present in the day-to-day life at the Joan Gamper Training Ground than the president, any board member, and even the sporting director, Anderson Luis de Souza. DecoHe has the complete picture of what's happening, a direct line to the footballers and most of the members of thestaff Hansi Flick's approach and, very importantly, the control over what is acceptable and unacceptable to publish in the media.

At today's Barça, often dominated by improvisation and outbursts, a simple informal conversation can change the course of events. Samuel Umtiti knows this well, having managed to stay at the club after warming up to Joan Laporta in the presidential office when Mateu Alemany had been working on solutions to get rid of him for a few weeks. Frenkie de Jong, also pointed out by the former Barça director of football as being too expensive for what he brought to the table, also remained at Barcelona thanks to the president's fondness for his game.