Araujo’s 93rd-minute strike lifts Barcelona past Girona to top of La Liga

Ronald Araujo scored a stoppage-time winner as Barcelona edged past Girona 2–1 on Saturday, lifting the reigning champions to the top of La Liga.

The Uruguayan defender, deployed as an emergency striker in the dying minutes, struck in the 93rd minute to snatch all three points and send Barça one point clear of Real Madrid, who face Getafe on Sunday.

After suffering two straight defeats, Barcelona were desperate for a response — but they only narrowly escaped an upset against a determined Girona side sitting 19th on the table.

Pedri González opened the scoring early for Barcelona, before Axel Witsel equalised with a spectacular overhead kick that silenced the Olympic Stadium crowd.

“Sometimes you have to win games like this — we missed a lot of chances and they did too,” said Fermín López to DAZN. “We fought until the end and we got that second goal… it was a chaotic second half but I think we deserved the win.”

Barça coach Hansi Flick recalled Lamine Yamal to the starting lineup after recovering from a groin injury that kept him out of Spain’s recent World Cup qualifiers. The 17-year-old winger also missed the 4–1 loss to Sevilla, and Flick handed another 17-year-old, Toni Fernández, his league debut amid an injury crisis that sidelined Robert Lewandowski and others.

Before kick-off, both teams paused for 15 seconds in solidarity with the players’ union’s symbolic protest against La Liga’s decision to move Barcelona’s December match against Villarreal to Miami.

Barcelona started brightly, breaking the deadlock in the 13th minute when Jules Koundé combined with Yamal to set up Pedri, who coolly slotted into the bottom corner.

But Girona hit back just seven minutes later through Witsel’s acrobatic finish. The visitors continued to threaten on the counter, with Vladyslav Vanat, Cristian Portu, and Bryan Gil all coming close.

At the other end, Marcus Rashford rattled the crossbar with a free kick, but the sides went into halftime level.

After the break, Pau Cubarsí thought he had restored Barça’s lead, only for his effort to be disallowed for a foul in the buildup. Flick then made a bold call, substituting both Yamal and Pedri, likely with Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Olympiakos and the upcoming Clásico in mind.

As time ran out, Flick sent Araujo forward in desperation — a gamble that paid off. In stoppage time, the defender met Frenkie de Jong’s cross and fired home to seal a thrilling victory.

Araujo ripped off his shirt in jubilation as Barcelona celebrated a hard-fought win that looked unlikely after a sluggish second half.

Girona’s Witsel admitted it was a painful finish:

“We feel that we played a great game… but we had four or five clear chances and should have scored more to kill the game. It’s hard mentally to let in a goal like that, but we have to remember our first-half performance and build on it.”

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