Rodri apologises to Valencia after comments caught on camera

Rodri has apologised to Valencia, their players and supporters after television cameras recorded him describing the club as “very weak” and “horrible” during Barcelona’s 5-0 La Liga victory at Mestalla on Saturday.

The Barcelona midfielder addressed the controversy before taking questions from reporters following his side’s 5-1 Champions League win over Feyenoord on Wednesday.

He said he had already contacted Valencia captain Jose Gaya to express his regret, and insisted his remarks were part of a private conversation with team-mate Pau Cubarsi rather than an attempt to mock the club or exploit a difficult period in its history.

“I would like to say a few words before we start. When a person makes a mistake, they must come out and apologise. I want to apologise to everyone who felt offended, including the players, the supporters and everyone else,” Rodri said, as reported by Marca.

“I have already made the necessary contact with my friend and team-mate Jose Gaya, and I apologised to him and to every member of the team. It was simply a phrase expressing surprise, and I never intended to mock Valencia or take advantage of a bad moment the team was going through and remove it from its context.”

Rodri added: “I hope Valencia return to the position they deserve and become one of the best clubs in this league again.”

The comments were captured by the Spanish programme El Dia Despues as Rodri spoke informally with Cubarsi on the Barcelona bench during the match.

Barcelona dominated the fixture, completing a 5-0 win against their hosts in the fourth round of La Liga. The footage triggered widespread reaction in Spain over the following days, with reports suggesting that Rodri had already apologised directly to Gaya before making his public comments.

The midfielder also argued that private conversations should not be separated from the circumstances in which they took place.

“We all need to learn a little more. Things are taken out of context, and I repeat my apology to Valencia,” he said.

Rodri’s remarks represented his first public response to the incident. His comments came after Barcelona followed their emphatic league victory with another convincing result in Europe, beating Feyenoord 5-1 on Wednesday.

Asked about Barcelona’s ambitions in the Champions League, Rodri said the club needed to improve before thinking about lifting the trophy.

“The Champions League is the small piece that is still missing for us. We have to change some things, and that is what we are working on. We all want to lift this trophy again, but we have to take it one step at a time,” he said.

Rodri also warned supporters against expecting Barcelona to win every match by a wide margin.

“If someone expects us to win every match by five goals, they are wrong. We still have a lot ahead of us, and the season is long,” he said.