Under-fire Neville won´t resign after Camp Nou thrashing

Gary Neville insists he will not quit as Valencia head coach after watching his struggling side suffer a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona at Camp Nou.

Luis Suarez scored four goals and Lionel Messi also hit a hat-trick as holders Barcelona ran riot in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final on Wednesday. 

Neville is yet to win a Liga match since taking charge at the start of December, but he intends to fight on. 

Asked if he planned to resign in the wake of the result, Neville said: “No. But it was the most painful night.

“I’ve had some as a player and now I’ve had some as a manager. We have made so many silly errors that you can’t make at any level, let alone against this team.”

Pressed again about what the result meant for his future, a dismissive Neville replied: “Next question.”

On the game, the former Manchester United and England defender said: “I wish the match against [Real] Betis [this Saturday] could start in 10 minutes. 

“This is one of the worst experiences I’ve ever gone through in football. I am not going to sleep well. The fans do not deserve this.

“I did not like what I saw. The game was lost before we fell to 10 men [Shkodran Mustafi was sent when the score was 3-0].”

Jesus Garcia Pitarch, Valencia’s sporting director, apologised to the club’s fans for the result.

“This day you can’t explain,” he said. 

“We must apologise
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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.”