Barcelona midfielder Rodri has offered an apology to Valencia’s players and fans after disparaging remarks he made about the team’s lack of quality were leaked.Rodri, who left Manchester City to join the Catalans this summer after steering Spain to World Cup glory, was caught by television cameras ridiculing Valencia after he was substituted during Barcelona’s 5-0 thrashing of the LaLiga outfit last Sunday. Using enhanced audio and lip-reading technology, Spanish network Movistar deciphered Rodri describing Valencia as ‘really poor’ after Barcelona team-mate Pau Cubarsi asked for his opinion on the team. Before carrying out his post-match media duties following Barcelona’s 5-1 Champions League victory over Feyenoord on Wednesday, Rodri issued a public apology to Valencia and revealed he phoned up club captain Jose Gaya to make amends.The Spaniard said: ‘In life when you make a mistake, you have to come out and ask for an apology. I’d like to apologise to those who felt offended, to Valencia fans, players, anyone who felt offended by my words. I had a phone call with my friend and team-mate Jose and asked for forgiveness, I apologised to the whole squad.’I’d also like to make clear that it was an expression of surprise. Anybody who sees the video can see that. At no time did I want to bully or take out of context any bad moment of any team – not at all. Rodri’s disparaging comments about Valencia were picked up by television cameras last week The Barcelona midfielder has offered an apology to the club after ridiculing them on the bench??? Rodri à Cubarsí depuis le banc : « Très faibles. Ils sont vraiment très faibles, ceux-là, hein ? Très faibles, mec. Ils n’ont même pas dépassé le milieu de terrain en deuxième période. » pic.twitter.com/5s9z20yQsM— Blaugranation (@Blaugranation_) September 7, 2026 ‘We all want – or in my case I want – Valencia to get back to the place where it should be, which is being one of the best clubs in this league. Simply, wanted to say that. I’d also like to say it was a private conversation, and I think from there we should all learn a bit more that sometimes things are taken a bit out of context, but at no time did I mean any disrespect and I reiterate my apologies to Valencia Club de Futbol.’ Rodri, who came off against Valencia in the 62nd minute with Barcelona already 3-0 ahead, was captured by cameras saying: ‘They’re poor. They’re really poor, eh? Man, they haven’t even got over the midfield line in the second half.’The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner started his career at Villarreal, Valencia’s archrivals, before moving to Atletico Madrid in 2018.A year later he signed for Manchester City, where he won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups, three League Cups and a Champions League trophy.Barcelona have enjoyed an excellent start to the season since Rodri’s £65.4million switch to the Nou Camp this summer, winning all four of their LaLiga matches so far to sit top of the table ahead of Sunday’s trip to Levante.