Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s two goals earned Barcelona a 3-1 home win against Celta Vigo but the victory was marred by a sickening injury to Ronald Araújo.
The defender was taken off the field in an ambulance after clashing heads with his Barça teammate Gavi and collapsing in the 61st minute. The Uruguay international “has suffered a concussion and has been taken to the hospital to undergo further testing,” the club said on Twitter. Araújo appeared to be conscious as he was taken from the Cap Nou pitch in an ambulance after nearly eight minutes of treatment from doctors.
“Good news he is conscious and aware now and the doctors told us he will be fine,” Xavi told Movistar Plus after the game.
Barcelona sealed a victory that puts Xavi’s side on course to secure a spot in the lucrative Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia with a second-place finish in La Liga. Memphis Depay opened the scoring in the 30th minute with a one-touch finish following brilliant individual play by Ousmane Dembélé on the right wing.
Aubameyang extended the lead with a close-range strike from a rebound and scored again four minutes after the break, after more fine play from the resurgent Dembélé, who looked like being forced out of the club only a few months ago.
Iago Aspas scored Celta’s consolation goal a minute later, after Marc-André ter Stegen mishandled a pass inside his own box and gifted the ball to the striker, who had an empty net at his disposal.
With two games left and Real Madrid already crowned champions, Barcelona are second on 72 points. They are seven points clear of third-placed Sevilla, who have one game in hand and will host relegation-threatened Mallorca on Wednesday.