Barcelona – Archyde.com
Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has apologized for abusive behavior in the 2-2 away draw with city rivals Espanyol, saying the tension in the match caused the incident.
Araujo appeared to make an insulting gesture to Espanyol midfielder Nico Melamed as he left the field at the end of the match, which saw one player from each team sent off.
The footage showed Araujo, the 22-year-old, who was on the bench after being substituted at halftime due to injury, screaming at Melmed and pointing at him with his hand hinting that Espanyol might be relegated to the second division after their promotion this season.
“I want to apologize to all of the Espanyol team for the unfortunate gesture I made,” Araujo said on Twitter after the match. Everything was the result of the tension that occurred during the exciting summit match, I consider myself one of the players who enjoy the respect of the teams and the competing fans, and I am not proud of what happened.”
Barcelona coach Xabi Hernandez said he did not witness the incident, but apologized for Araujo’s behaviour.
“We have to respect the opponent, his fans and the referee,” Spanish newspaper Marca quoted Xavi as saying. “We always have to be respectful, but sometimes tension can make that difficult.”
Barcelona is in fourth place with 39 points from 23 games, 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid, who played more games.
Xavi’s team hosts Napoli in the European League next Thursday.