The 26-year-old defender was placed on indefinite leave by the club in early December after requesting a break. He returned to the team at the end of December and Tuesday’s Copa del Rey win against Albacete was his first start since the 3-0 defeat by Chelsea in the Champions League on November 25, when the Uruguayan was subbed off in the 44th minute.
Araujo admitted that even before the Chelsea game he felt “not quite right”, but that match was the moment he realized that “something had to be done”. After that, he talked to the club and decided to seek professional help.
“When the match ended, I felt like everything was falling on me,” Araujo told Mundo Deportivo.
“I suffered from anxiety for a year and a half, and then it turned into depression. I played in this state. It doesn’t help, because you don’t feel like yourself on the field. I know my value and what I can give to the team, but I wasn’t feeling well and I knew something was going on with me.”
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The defender noted that he usually does not tend to ask for help and prefers to “keep everything to himself”, but he realized that he needed to talk to someone in order to recover.
Araujo missed seven games before returning to training in late December. In January, he came on as a substitute in the Spanish Super Cup final against Real Madrid, in the Champions League match against FC Copenhagen and in the La Liga game against Elche, and later started and wore the captain’s armband against Albacete.
According to Araujo, he feels that “the hardest part is behind us” and that the break from football was “very important”.
“It worked for me, and now I feel like a completely different person,” he added.
Since joining from Boston River in 2018, Araujo has made 195 appearances for Barcelona.
The Catalans will play their next match on Thursday against Atletico in the Spanish Cup.
Source: sport.ua