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Barcelona star Rodri finds himself at the heart of something of a media storm in Catalunya’s capital early this week. This comes owing to a round of footage centring on the midfielder captured this past weekend.
Rodri was for his part afforded his starting debut in Barcelona colours on Sunday, in a La Liga meeting with Valencia. And en route to an eventual 5-0 Blaugrana romp, the 30-year-old controlled the midfield battle with poise and characteristic excellence.
Just beyond the hour mark, with the three points already in the bag, Rodri, in turn, was hauled off by manager Hansi Flick.
And it was an ensuing exchange between the former Manchester City man and young teammate Pau Cubarsí which has since sparked something of a backlash against Rodri.
After the latter took his place on the visitors’ bench at Mestalla, he was captured by Movistar’s cameras taking aim at Valencia’s players in harsh fashion:
Rodri “They’re so weak, man, so weak. Wow, these guys are terrible. How did Valencia do last season?”
Cubarsí: “I think they were close to Europe.”
Rodri: “Wow… they’re so bad. In the 2nd half, they haven’t even passed the midfield line.”
As noted by journalist Albert Ortega, the footage in question caused such a stir that it has since been removed from Movistar’s official social media platforms.
Conor Laird – GSFN
