Valencia defender Gabriel Paulista has responded to insults hauled at him by Barcelona forward Luis Suarez by calling him the best striker in the world.

The two players were involved in a number of classes and verbal exchange in Thursday night’s Copa del Rey semi-final clash at the Camp Nou, with the Uruguayan scoring the only goal of the game.

Gabriel is quoted as saying by Marca after the match.

“It was a pretty heated insult, although of course I’d rather these conversations stayed on the pitch,”

“He called me a cagon (a foul Spanish insult), so I responded by telling him what a good player he was and that he was the best striker in the world.

“However, as I said, we as players cannot allow these things to stay on our mind after the match so we must move on.

“It was disappointing to lose of course as we gave our all, and whilst Barcelona are the best team in the world we are still preparing ourselves for qualifying.

“It was a great game and we defended strongly, and in the second half created more opportunities, but we move on.”

The defender will be looking to get the better of him when the two sides meet in the second leg at the Mestalla.