Real Madrid and Barcelona were expected to contest a tight title race this season. Los Blancos were the defending champions. On the other hand, the Catalan giants had made some huge signings over the course of the summer transfer window and improved their squad significantly, following an underwhelming 2021/22 campaign.
As things stand though, it looks like Barcelona might be running away with the La Liga title. They sit 11 points ahead of Real Madrid and have played a game more than Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
This was not expected early on in the season, when Real Madrid were the ones who were looking unstoppable. But as the campaign has progressed, injuries and fatigue seem to have taken a toll on Los Blancos. On the other hand, Barcelona have only gotten better and are showing an impressive efficiency at the moment.
Yet, it looks like the Barcelona players are not taking anything for granted, with almost half the season still left to be played. And Ronald Araujo had some very positive words about Vinicius Junior recently.
Barcelona star hails Real Madrid player as ‘spectacular’
As reported by MARCA, Araujo told Jijantes about Vinicius:
"“He’s a spectacular player. I love it. It is very difficult to defend. I’m happy because things went well for us. We’re going to suffer a lot with him in the next few years.”"
Vinicius was one of the best players on the planet last season and even scored the Champions League winner vs Liverpool. He went through a downturn in form this time around, but seems to be back to his best once again now.
Hopefully, that will inspire Real Madrid to produce their best once again. There is no doubt that Vinicius is a key part of this team, and when he is struggling, they seem to struggle too.
Araujo has done a tremendous job at Barcelona as well and established himself as an undroppable in Xavi’s side. Thus, we could see the Uruguayan defender come up against Vinicius in El Clasicos for years to come.