Barcelona star apologizes for offensive behavior in front of Espanyol .. (video)
Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has apologized for his "abusive behaviour" in the 2-2 away draw with city rivals La Liga club 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 22-year-old Araujo, who was on the bench after being substituted at half-time 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 members of the Espanyol team for the unfortunate gesture I made tonight," Araujo said on Twitter after the match.
"I consider myself one of the players who enjoy the respect of competing teams and fans, and I am not proud of what happened," he added.
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 the tension can make that difficult."
Barcelona is fourth with 39 points from 23 games, 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid, who played more games.
Xavi's team hosts Napoli in the Europa League on Thursday.
Ronald Araújo 🤐 pic.twitter.com/90bV5mvebq
— Juli Claramunt (@juliclaramunt) February 13, 2022
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