Barcelona forward Neymar may feel the finger of blame will be firmly pointing at him following the ugly scenes with Valencia fans during his side's 3-2 win at the Mestalla, after Spanish media have reportedly discovered what he told the home crowd moments before he was struck by a bottle.
A controversial Lionel Messi penalty proved to be the winning goal in a game that was ruined by the incident that proceed the Argentine's winner. Messi and his teammates celebrated the successful penalty in-front of an angry home crowd and things thentook a turn for the worse when several playerswere struck by bottles thrown by the Valencia fans.
The home side have since been handed a€1,500 fine for the incident, but were left aggrieved after the conduct of the Barcelona players appeared to have sparked the anger from the Mestalla crowd.
If celebrating in-front of the Valencia faithful wasn't antagonisticenough, then Neymar's comments only added to the animosityand explains why he was targetedwith a water bottle.
Spanish media have revealed Neymar is believedto haveshouted "Take it up your a**"towards the home fans, which tipped them over the edge considering theywere clearly riledby their team conceding the controversialpenalty.
Neymar to Valencia fans before the bottle was thrown: "Take it up your ass." pic.twitter.com/NZ1ELz4phs
Meanwhile, the bottle throwing culprit has come forward and issued an apology to the Barcelona players, whilst alsoeluding to Neymar's crude comments.
His statement, published on his behalf by Spanish Newspaper Marca, read:"I am the supporter that threw the bottle, yes, the one that hit the Barcelona players.
From the moment it left my hand, I realised the seriousness of my mistake. I completely regret it, as it isn't an act that defines me as a person, nor does it define Valencia's great fanbase.
Wow. The Catalan press aren't even embarrassed in the slightest to post these images on their covers 🎃😄� pic.twitter.com/k0Tzg1b3ih
"When the penalty was given, I felt very impotent and upset at what had just occurred. When Messi scored and came to the north end to celebrate, I also saw how Neymar insulted and provoked all of those Valencia supporters that had supported the team until the end. At that moment, I saw a bottle lying on the ground, and on impulse picked it up and threw it at them.
"I ask Barcelona for forgiveness and also to my lifelong team, who I will continue to support until the end of my days."
After this latest development, its safe to say this won't be the last we hear of the infamous bottle throwing incident from last weekend's La Liga match.