In Profile: Ronald Araujo proving the rightful heir to Carles Puyol at Barcelona

When Ronald Araújo was promoted to become one of the four club captains at FC Barcelona during the summer, the Uruguayan centre-back embraced the assignment.

He has been one of the most committed and impactful players for Los Blaugrana to start 2023/24, and his never-give-up attitude propelled him forward in stoppage time during Saturday's visit to Real Sociedad to head in an İlkay Gündoğan cross for the 1-0 victory.

Ever since he made his debut with the FC Barcelona first team, the defender has played the beautiful game with an unrivalled passion. Perhaps in his debut, a 4-0 win against Sevilla FC in October 2019, he played with a little too much passion, picking up a red card late on in that game, but Araújo now plays with the experience and maturity of a footballer far older than his 24 years, channelling his energy in the right way.

Saturday night's trip to Real Sociedad was the perfect illustration of this. Having lost ELCLASICO in the final moments the previous matchday, Barça travelled to the Basque Country determined to get back on track, but they came up against an excellent Real Sociedad side. If it hadn't been for Araújo's solid defensive performance, in which he made six clearances and won five of six aerial duels, La Real could very well have gone ahead. Then, with the scores level, Araújo showed the world that he is a force of nature on the football pitch, making his impact felt at the opposite end.

Speaking after the victory, Araújo told FC Barcelona's official media channels that: “I'm truly happy with the victory. It was important to win after losing ELCLASICO. We knew it was going to be a very difficult match against Real Sociedad, who are a great team, a team in the Champions League and who play very