Bilbao were failed to reach the final of the Copa del Rey after drawing 1-1 with Osasuna at home on Wednesday evening.
The result saw the Basque club’s run in the competition come to an end via 2-1 aggregate defeat, having lost 1-0 to Osasuna in the semi-final first leg.
Nico’s elder brother Inaki opened the scoring early in the first half, but Bilbao couldn’t hold on to the lead, with Pablo Ibanez scoring in the 116th minute to send Osasuna through to the final.
Nico missed a number of gilt-edged chances during the game and some of the Bilbao fans decided to turn on him on social media after the game.
In light of the online abuse hurled at him, the 20-year-old deactivated all his social media accounts and released a statement citing insults from fans.
He noted that “the hard blow of the elimination from the Copa and the subsequent pressure by some users in the form of insults and lack of respect on social media.”
“We all need to work together to eradicate this type of attitude from social media,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, Inaki has urged his brother to shrug off the incident and keep his head up, insisting has a great future ahead of him.
“It’s normal for my brother to be upset, we are all upset. We were on the verge of another final and we have been eliminated,” Inaki said.
“My brother has a great future and he will be able to learn from this. He needs to lift his head and move on.”
Meanwhile, Nico has been involved in seven goals and six assists for Bilbao this season and was part of the Spain team that played at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.