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| 04 Ronald Araujo of FC Barcelona controls the ball during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona v Sevilla FC at Spotify Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, on February 5th, 2023. |
Barcelona welcome an in-form Marcus Rashford to the Camp Nou on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa League play-off tie with Manchester United.
The England international heads into the game after scoring 21 goals in all competitions this season, including 13 since the World Cup – that’s more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues.
Xavi has been thinking about the game and has come up with a plan to deal with Rashford and his name is Ronald Araujo, according to AS.
The Barcelona boss has previously used Araujo up against Vinicius Junior, to good effect, and now wants to do the same thing with Rashford.
Araujo, who has openly admitted he’s in the best form of his career will be charged with marking the Red Devil throughout the game at the Camp Nou.
The Uruguayan has previously been shifted to right-back to accommodate Vinicius, but the report says he won’t necessarily play at full-back on Thursday night.
Araujo could still play in the middle, alongside Andreas Christensen, but it’s clear that he will be given the responsibility for stopping Manchester United’s danger man.
