Neymar incited fans, says Valencia captain; bottle-throwing fan apologises

Lionel Messi scored a late winner from the penalty spot and during the celebrations Neymar was seen gesturing and shouting at the home crowd. Moments later the players were struck by a plastic water bottle, causing Neymar and a number of his surrounding team-mates to fall to the ground.

“Not to provoke, but I think they lacked respect,” Valencia captain Dani Parejo told Spanish TV channel La Sexta. “The Mestalla never behaves like that and I believe Neymar was wrong.

“You have to understand that, in such difficult moments, it’s not the time to incite. I think you can celebrate a goal when you’re very happy and you’re going to take three points back home, but in that moment you can’t aggravate or incite people.

“The fan who threw the bottle was wrong too. I hope that neither thing is repeated.”

That Valencia fan has released a statement, via his father, who met with the club on Tuesday.

“As soon as I threw the bottle I knew I had made a terrible mistake,” read the statement. “But Neymar has been insulting us and provoking the Valencia fans who had been cheering their side to the last breath. A bottle, which despite being practically empty, was enough for not one but up to five players to go down pretending they’d been hit by it.

“But the thing that hurts the most is that I love Valencia ahead of everything else and I know that my actions do not represent the amazing Valencia supporters, and much less our values. I would like to ask forgiveness of Barcelona and, above all, my lifelong club.”