Araujo rescues Barça with a goal against Girona in stoppage time.

Barça had to practically sweat blood to overcome the situation against a Girona side that made things very difficult for them. A goal from Araujo in added time finally broke the deadlock, after Pedri had opened the scoring and Witsel equalized with a visually stunning first-half strike, giving the Blaugrana three points that could prove invaluable as they try to get back to their best form. [2-1: Story and Stats]

All of this, moreover, with a crowd that protested with harsh words several of Jesús Gil Manzano 's decisions, disallowing a Cubarsí goal for the Blaugrana due to a previous foul by Eric García and sending off Hansi Flick for a second yellow card after the German's angry protests about one of his decisions. This, barring a successful appeal by the club, will prevent him from being on the bench for the Bernabéu derby. His gestures after the 2-1, emulating those gestures of Bernd Schuster, then a Barcelona player, in a Cup final against Real Madrid, could make things much more difficult for him.

In the opening minutes of the match, things looked to be looking very good for Barça. Girona was constantly chasing shadows, and everything suggested that the first goal was only a matter of time. And so it was. Pedri, with a soft touch, sent a very tight ball that, after hitting the left post of Gazzanigga 's goal, ended up making it 1-0 before the first quarter of an hour had fallen. The goal, however, suited the visiting team better than the Blaugrana. With a defensive performance that was dangerously reminiscent of the one at the Sánchez-Pizjuán, Míchel 's team began to threaten the Barcelona area, and Witsel, with a plastic scissor-kick shot, made it 1-1, which, going into the break, seemed even short. The Girona team, repeatedly breaking the offside trap, had as many as three clear chances to increase their lead. The first, from Vanat, was saved by Szczesny . The second, from Portu , hit the left post of the home side's goal. And the third, from Bryan Gil , went over the crossbar.

It's true that the Blaugrana also had a few chances to score. Rashford , who had already forced the visiting goalkeeper to punch away a angled free kick in the opening minutes, smashed another against the bar shortly after De Jong had forced Gazzanigga to excel in sending the Dutchman's shot out for a corner. After the break, Flick opted to bring on Fermin for Toni Fernández, who had the task of making his official La Liga debut at 17 years of age and having played his first competitive game with the first team in the Copa del Rey against Barbastro last season, as a key player up front. Things improved with the Huelva native. The midfielder, upon his return, tested him tremendously, and the Barcelona team, largely following in his footsteps, put a strain on the Argentine goalkeeper's goal, who worked overtime to prevent the ball from ending up in the net. Cubarsí succeeded, although the goal would end up being disallowed due to Eric's previous foul on an opponent. Desperate, Flick decided to bring on Araujo to act as a striker, as Johan Cruyff so often did with Alexanco when things looked really bad. And the gamble, almost at the limit of added time, ended up being a clear winner heading into a week marked in red on the calendar: the week of the Clásico.