In recent hours, there has been a lot of talk in Spain about the lip reading of Barcelona midfielder Rodri, caught on camera on the bench after being substituted in the second half against Valencia, a match that ended in a 5-0 win for the Blaugrana. The 30-year-old midfielder, who recently arrived from Manchester City for almost 80 million euros, was apparently not used to being minutely analyzed at every moment of his match and addressed his teammate Pau Cubarsí, as if the two were inside the walls of the dressing room, calling the opponents of that day “very weak”. Statements that were as sincere and made without any desire to mock the “Bats” (there is no smile or hint of irony), as they were somewhat inappropriate, given that Rodri is the captain of the Spanish national team.
Rodri, lip reading after substitution in Valencia-Barcelona
The 2024 Ballon d'Or winner was used to the always uncertain Premier League matches, without "easy prey" opponents, and when he was substituted in the 62nd minute of the match at Mestalla, with the score 3-0 to Barcelona, he spontaneously told his teammate sitting next to him on the bench what he thought of that really weak and contested Valencia: "They are really very weak, they are really very weak... really very weak" - he repeated three times to Cubarsí, who had also just been substituted, and then again: "They are really very bad, friend. They are terrible. How did they rank last season? In the second half they didn't go past half the pitch...".
??️ 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 period. » pic.twitter.com/5s9z20yQsM
— Blaugranation (@Blaugranation_) September 7, 2026
Controversy from Madrid: "What a lack of class, he is the captain of Spain"
Words spoken without covering their mouths and that became the subject of controversy (clearly a bit biased, given the source) by Real Madrid commentators. "If Vinicius did what Rodri does, there wouldn't be enough news editions in the world to talk about him", "What happened to Rodri shows a lack of class, he is the captain of Spain" were some of the comments that show the Madrid approach to this event.
Someone else pointed out that midfielder Rodri's words contradicted the reception given to him by the Mestalla audience, who had just greeted the exit of the Spain goalkeeper, newly declared world champion, with an ovation: "A second before he made those bad comments, Mestalla was applauding Rodri. I find it even more insulting to say those things on the bench after receiving a warm ovation from the audience, without provocation and without incitement."
