Vinicius shares a friendly relationship with Barcelona defender off the pitch – report

Ronald Araujo’s battle against Vinicius Jr has always lived upto the hype and as Barcelona prepare to play Real Madrid for the second time this month, the two South Americans will once again want to put on an exciting show.

While Barcelona vs Real Madrid is far from being a friendly affair even off the pitch, the duel between Araujo and Vinicius is certainly the one, reports Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo.

The outlet claims that the two players admire each other a lot and, in fact, have a great relationship off the field. Having grown up in Rivera, Araujo speaks good Portuguese which helps him to communicate with Vinicius rather fluently.

Just like Araujo, Vinicius, too, wants to let his performance do all the talking, and their impeccable sportsmanship makes them one of a kind. 

Both want to fight on the field, but once the full-time whistle is blown, there is nothing but admiration between the two so much so that the Uruguayan sent Vinicius a happy birthday message.

Their admiration for one another can be understood by the fact that Araujo recently branded his South American counterpart as the number one player in one-on-one situations.

“For me today, Vinicius is number one in one-on-one. He is a very good player, very unbalancing. It’s difficult, obviously. But he worked to be able to give his best in matches like this. I’m glad things are going well,” said the Uruguayan.

Be that as it may, regardless of their off-the-field relationship, Araujo seems to have found Vinicius’ kryptonite.

“I don’t think I have won the psychological battle, it’s football and there are still many duels in our career,” Araujo said about Vinicius earlier in Moviestar. But despite denying the obvious, the 24-year-old loves going head-to-head with Vinicius and he hopes the story will be the same on Sunday at Camp Nou.

“I hope to play on the wing, but we still don’t know what the coach is going to decide. I will try to bring the best of myself to the team,” he explained.