Barcelona played out a Europa League game for the ages in their 2-2 draw against Manchester United at Camp Nou on Thursday. The knockout clash is being widely recognized as one of the best games of 2023 and among the more memorable clashes in which these two have faced each other over the last decade or so.
While the game took its time to get on its feet in a relatively scrappy first half, the second half was brilliant. Barca got the goals running with Marcos Alonso scoring a clever header past David de Gea’s near post to give his side the lead.
That almost appeared to give United the reinvigoration they needed to mount something special. Marcus Rashford, who can’t stop scoring, did just that. Minutes after the opener, he popped up into the box and managed to power a shot past Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s near post.
United had all the momentum in the world after that and Barca were rocked. The Red Devils kept piling forward in numbers as well as creating dangerous counter-attacking chances. Rashford was the man at the heart of their second goal too. He played a short corner, burst past Jordi Alba and sent in a dangerous cross that Jules Kounde bundled into his own net.
Suddenly, Erik ten Hag’s side had made Camp Nou silent as a church. Barca played under a lot of pressure, but the brilliant Raphinha manage to disguise a threatening cross to go all the way into the goal to equalize things. Some controversy happened as well, with both sides robbed of seemingly clear penalties.
In the end, the two teams had to settle for a draw and will now compete for the opportunity to go forward in the next leg at Old Trafford. While everyone was left talking about the game, something that happened well before kick-off also delighted a lot of Barcelona fans.
Ronald Araujo, who had a relatively decent game at right-back, arrived at Camp Nou in style. But rather than wearing a suit or a club tracksuit, he paid homage to his club by wearing a major throwback kit.
Just minutes before the official starting lineups were revealed, Barca’s official account posted a picture of Araujo arriving in the stadium wearing the 1912-13 season’s home kit. The Uruguayan defender appears to be a big fan of old-school kits and how uniquely his team used to dress during games over a decade ago.
The Blaugrana’s home kit in the 1912-13 season was in their iconic maroon and blue colours. It had a plain stripes design with a pair of strings rather than buttons covering the neck area of the footballers. Araujo might be so casual wearing this rare kit, but it can be something which antique collectors will buy for a high price.
Interestingly, this is a real collector’s item and is not available for sale that easily at all. Even Football Kit Archive, a website that sells rare old kits of famous clubs, does not seem to have it up for sale right now.
It’s well assured that if someone wants to buy this kit if it is available, they’ll probably have to pay much higher than the €94.99 they must pay for buying the current season’s home kit from Barca’s online stores. Araujo also looks appears to be a great fit for this rusty old kit, because he possesses a physique and playing style that could’ve helped him blend into the beautiful game in 1912 as well.
