Spanish champions FC Barcelona have apologised for a tweet they posted mocking Real Betis after beating them 5-2 in their Spanish league match. Barcelona posted a photo of defender Junior Firpo holding up five fingers after the match with the caption “Junior knows.”
“Barcelona wish to sincerely apologise for any offence caused to Real Betis,” the club tweeted. “No disrespect was intended, but we were wrong to publish it on a night that was very special for Junior.”
Notably, Barca had signed Firpo from Betis in August. The 23-year-old made his debut during the win, coming on for Brazilian midfielder Rafinha in the 81st minute. Firpo featured in 29 games for Betis last season and was part of Spain’s U21 European Championship-winning side in June.
Talking about the match, the Catalonia-based club defeated Betis 5-2 on Monday.
For the Seville-based club, Nabil Fekir, the French attacking midfielder drew the first blood in the 16th minute. Later, Fekir’s national teammate Antoine Griezmann played a leveller in the 41st minute.
In the second-half (56th minute) Carles Perez gave Barca a 2-1 lead in the match and Jordi Alba in the 60th minute made matters worse for the visitors with another goal.
Arturo Vidal in the 77th minute put one in the basket for Barca two minutes before Lorenzo Garcia scored the second goal for Betis.
(With inputs from IANS)