Ronald Araujo forced to take action after being targeted by barrage of abuse from Barcelona fans as defender is scapegoated for dramatic Champions League exit to Inter

Araujo has been left to defend himself after becoming the target of a wave of abuse from a section of the Barcelona fans, who scapegoated the Uruguayan international for their team's heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Inter in the second leg of the semi-final at San Siro on Tuesday. With the tie ending 7-6 on aggregate in favour of the hosts, Barca missed the chance to reach the Champions League final, and Araujo had no choice but to block Instagram comments to protect himself from the abuse.

Araujo had to watch haplessly as Inter came from a goal behind to win the tie and eliminate Barca. Substituted on in the 76th minute in place of Inigo Martinez, Araujo was guilty of letting Inter veteran Francesco Acerbi crash the box and meet Denzel Dumfries' low cross to score an equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time. Then, in extra time, Araujo once again stood still as he watched Davide Frattesi nab the winner.

Araujo, one of the captains and among the best players for Barca in the past few years, has fallen down in the pecking order behind Martinez and Cubarsi. He was close to an exit in January, but was eventually persuaded to prolong his stay at the club. While he has signed a new deal which will keep him at the club until 2031, he has a €65 million (£55m/$74m) release clause which will remain active for the first 10 days of the transfer window. Reports in the past few weeks have linked him with moves to Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

The 26-year-old is not expected to be a starter in Barcelona's next game, in which they take on Real Madrid at home on Sunday, May 11, but he could be one of the substitutes head coach Hansi Flick uses in the second half of the game.