FC Barcelona’s young midfielder Arthur Melo shared that he apologized to head coach Ernesto Valverde and his teammates for going to his compatriot Neymar’s birthday party in Paris just two days before the club’s clash versus Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey on February 6.

Arthur had training the day after the party back in Spain. Barca drew the El Clasico 1-1 and the Goiania native picked a hamstring injury.

“I think I messed up going to Paris, to Neymar’s party,” the Brazilian said in a pre-game press conference on Tuesday for FCB’s UEFA Champions League’s match against Olympique Lyon. “Life has these moments. Sometimes you do the right thing, sometimes you make a mistake. I knew what I was doing. I was excited to go, but I’m big enough to take responsibility for my actions. You learn from your mistakes. I apologized to the coach and my teammates. It was a difficult moment for me, but I’m giving all I can. I know there are things to improve.”

Did the youngster need to apologize?

Neymar is Arthur’s close friend and as known someone’s birthday only happens once a year. The ex Barca player’s 27th birthday was a painful one as the forward was injured. Goal.com reported that Neymar was in tears during a speech he made at his party, in which he said he wished he had a healthy metatarsal as a gift.

Everybody knows how emotional Neymar is, he cried quite a few times during interviews; he needed the support from his beloved countryman.

Furthermore, a flight from Barcelona to Paris only lasts an hour and a half. Supposedly Arthur made it to training the next day on time since there weren’t any headlines about him getting to practice late. There have been headlines about his teammate Ousmane Dembele arriving to practice late, though.

Neymar’s party didn’t affect the midfielder’s performance as he put up a spectacular display against Los Blancos.

And it’s highly questionable that Arthur picked up the injury because he went to his international teammate’s party. Dembele and Jasper Cillessen picked up a muscle injury this season and they weren’t at Neymar’s party two days before.

On the flip side of the argument, even though the former Gremio man played well against Real and made it to training on time the day after the party, it’s a lack of commitment and a sign of disrespect to go to a party in a another country when your team has training the next day and a game in two days —out of any team, Real Madrid, and in a knockout game no less.

After all, things like that are expected from Arthur, he’s only 22 years old. The midfielder noted that mistakes happen in the press conference, one of the steps of recovering from them is to acknowledge them and apologize.

Hopefully, Neymar decides to celebrate his party in Barcelona next year, close to his former club teammates and current international teammates.