Valencia defender Gabriel Paulista responded to Luis Suarez’s insults by responding to the Barcelona striker with praise.
The two were involved in a number of clashes and discussions during Thursday night’s Copa del Rey semi-final clash at the Camp Nou, with the Uruguayan striker netted in the game’s only goal.
“It was a pretty heated insult, although of course I’d rather these conversations stayed on the pitch,” Gabriel is quoted as saying by Marca after the match.
“He called me a cagon (a foul Spanish insult), so I responded by telling him what a good player he was and that he was the best striker in the world.
“However, as I said, we as players cannot allow these things to stay on our mind after the match so we must move on.
“It was disappointing to lose of course as we gave our all, and whilst Barcelona are the best team in the world we are still preparing ourselves for qualifying.
“It was a great game and we defended strongly, and in the second half created more opportunities, but we move on.”
