Ronald Araujo: Barcelona star's brave defending vs Atletico Madrid | OneFootball

Barcelona are now three points clear at the top of the La Liga table.

After Real Madrid‘s shock 2-1 defeat away at Villarreal on Saturday, Xavi Hernandez’s side were presented with a great opportunity to move ahead in the title race.

Their Sunday assignment wasn’t exactly easy, though.

Barcelona travelled to face Atletico Madrid, but a dogged team performance saw them emerge with the most crucial of 1-0 victories.

A first half goal from Ousmane Dembele was enough for all three points, although the Blaugrana had to ride their luck somewhat.

Atletico mustered 18 shots on goal in total, but couldn’t quite breach Barcelona’s back-line.

One of the main reasons for that was the performance by Ronald Araujo, who only recently returned from a lengthy injury lay-off.

Alongside former Chelsea man Andreas Christensen at centre-back, the Uruguayan was exceptional and the only blemish was the fact he picked up a yellow card.

And during his pragmatic masterclass at the magnificent Wanda Metropolitano stadium, Araujo took ‘putting your body on the line’ to new heights.

In the midst of a goalmouth scramble, the 23-year-old decided to place his head in the most dangerous of zones to help stop Atletico.

World Cup on steroids. Araujo’s bravery could have seen him get seriously injured but thankfully, that didn’t happen.

Check out the footage…

Fair play, Ronald. That’s the kind of guy you want in your team, a warrior who will do whatever it takes to win a football match.

As well as the slightly maniacal defending above, Araujo was responsible for a goal-saving block deep into injury-time.

Antoine Griezmann looked certain to level things up when presented with a close-range chance, but Araujo was on hand to clear the ball off the line and preserve Barcelona’s slender advantage.

To borrow a cliche, that’s as good as a goal.

So, what next for Barcelona in La Liga? Well, they don’t actually play another league game until at least January 22nd due to their presence in the Spanish Super Cup.

Xavi’s team do battle with Real Betis first up in that competition on Thursday evening.

They’re currently scheduled to play Getafe in La Liga on the 22nd, although that is subject to change.