Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo was seen winding up an Espanyol player in a tense derby on Sunday, forcing his coach Xavi Hernandez to apologise for his defender's behaviour.
Three players including Gerard Pique were sent off in a chaotic end to the 2-2 draw as Barca snatched a point against their struggling neighbours thanks to a late strike from Luuk de Jong.
Espanyol's Nicolas Melamed was sent off at the same time as Pique and as he left the pitch he was met by Araujo, who had been substituted at half-time after picking up an injury.
The Uruguayan got up from his seat on the bench to taunt Melamed, appearing to tell the player his side were going to be relegated again.
Espanyol were relegated from LaLiga in 2020 for the first time in 26 years and are in danger of returning to the second division, although their draw with Barca lifted them eight points above the drop zone.
Araujo held up two fingers to Melamed and then gave a thumbs down gesture in what was quickly interpreted as a taunt about relegation.
Xavi, who had his back to Araujo, said he had not seen the incident but when asked about it in the press conference he apologised on his player's behalf.
'We have to respect the opponent, the referee and the rival fans,' Xavi said.
'We always have to be respectful, but the tension can sometimes make that hard. But if that's what happened then I apologise because that's not what we should be doing.'
Espanyol midfielder Sergi Darder, who scored in the first half to cancel out Pedri's second-minute opening strike, also rebuked Araujo after the game.
Darder pointed out that Araujo, who signed for Barca as a teenager, cut his teeth in Spain's lower leagues.
'One or two years ago he was playing in Segunda B', Darder said. 'He's a great defender, but things like this do not help him.'
Araujo later apologised for his actions after the match in a post on Twitter.
'I would like to apologise to all Espanyol fans for the unfortunate gesture I made tonight,' Araujo wrote.
'It was a product of the tension of a hugely competitive derby.
'I consider myself to be a respectful person with rival clubs and their fans and that's why I do not feel proud about what happened.'