Neville refuses to quit after ‘painful night’ against Barcelona

Gary Neville: Saw Valencia hammered 7-0

Gary Neville: Saw Valencia hammered 7-0

Gary Neville refused to quit after his side were thumped 7-0 in the first leg of the Copa del Rey against Barcelona on Wednesday night.

Luis Suarez scored four and Lionel Messi bagged a hat-trick as Barca ran riot and left Neville’s embryonic spell as Valencia manager in dire straits.

In addition to this humiliation at Camp Nou, Neville is still waiting for his first league win after eight attempts and the fans are beginning to turn on the former England international.

Neville was asked about his future three times in his post-match press conference in which he spoke about his “most painful night in football”.

When asked outright if he intended to resign, Neville emphatically replied: “No.”

A second line of questioning brought the response “next question” before a third attempt saw Neville say: “Next question. I have answered that before. I think I was very clear.”

Although insisting he will battle on, Neville was not hiding after his side’s embarrassing evening.

“This was one of my most painful nights in football,” he said. “The scoreline is unacceptable. I have not enjoyed tonight. I won’t sleep well tonight. I didn’t like what I saw. The fans didn’t deserve that. We have to recover incredibly quickly.

“This is one of the worst experiences I’ve ever gone through in football.”

Valencia sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch said it was one of the worst results in the club’s history, but refused to discuss whether Neville’s job is in danger.

“This day you can’t explain,” he said to television cameras after the game.

“We must apologise to fans for one of worst results in our history.

“I never talk about tactical or team things. Everyone can draw opinion from what happened. Not the day to talk about the future.”