The 2023/24 La Liga season is underway and it has already proven to provide quite the entertainment. Last year, Xavi and FC Barcelona took the league, with Real Madrid coming in second while being 10 points behind. It was quite an achievement for the Catalan giants considering their financial state a couple of years ago.
This year, Barcelona has signed Oriol Romeu, İlkay Gündoğan, and Iñigo Martínez to the first team. Xavi went for his usual team for their La Liga opener against Getafe recently, with the former Manchester City starting on the left, and Romeu accompanying Frenkie de Jong in the midfield. Neither side could bring the deadlock, although Barca did come close with Raphina’s free-kick effort in the 15th minute.
But that was not all that caught the attention of fans. it was center-back Ronald Araújo who managed to catch everyone by surprise. In the 48th minute, Araújo aimed to receive a pass from his teammate, but the switch-up was unintentionally overhit.
Araujo thinks he’s LeBron James pic.twitter.com/c0RVsgtpuI
— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) August 13, 2023
— Ezenwayi Camp Nou 💙♥️ (@Jiji_Byte) August 13, 2023
He thinks he is the best NBA 🏀 player pic.twitter.com/kHD3mA405z
— Smart Barry🇸🇱🇺🇸🇬🇳 (@SmartBarry3) August 14, 2023
Instead of leaving the loose ball, the defender caught it with his hands, knowing he wouldn’t be able to receive it. This received hilarious reactions from fans, with one saying, “Araujo thinks He’s LeBron James,” indicating that he thought himself to be an NBA player briefly. The player did seem visibly upset with his actions, and could even be seen taken by surprise by what he just did.
Raphina gets first red card of the 2023/24 La Liga season
In the 42nd minute, Raphina attempted to make a run in behind a Getafe defender. de Jong was visibly waiting to make a pass before his Brazilian teammate did the unthinkable. After being blocked, Raphina seemed to have elbowed his opponent. He was shown a straight red. de Jong tried to plead with the referee, but it was to no avail as well.
Barca ended the game with a draw, taking home just one point. But one important lesson they’d take away is that the game was there for the taking if it wasn’t for the players’ questionable actions. Getafe also reduced themselves to ten men, but that was in the 57th minute when Jaime Mata got a second yellow.
It is quite impressive that Barca managed to hold on for quite some time with one player less, but the firepower in their squad is too impressive for a draw. Regardless, there are still 37 games in the second, and Barca fans can be quite confident that Xavi and Co. can perform their magic this season as well.