Porto coach Sergio Conceicao claims Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta made offensive remarks about his family during their match, leading to Arsenal’s shootout victory and advancement.
Conceicao said:
“During the game and towards the bench he, in Spanish, I don’t know if this is to do with Spanish managers, he insulted my family.
“And then at the end, I said attention, who he insults is not between us, he should focus on training his team because they have a lot of individual qualities to do that.”
Sources at Arsenal have it that Arteta strongly denied the accusation.
The Gunners edged the fiery contest 4-2 on penalties after Leandro Trossard‘s 41st-minute strike levelled the round-of-16 tie at 1-1 on aggregate and forced extra time.
Wendell and Galeno had their spot kicks saved by David Raya to spark jubilant scenes at full time, but the two managers, who had been booked in separate incidents during the game, clashed again at the final whistle.
After the match, though, Arsenal and Arteta were keen to focus on a historic night when they finally ended a run of seven consecutive defeats at this stage of the competition.
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Arteta:
“For [the team] to do it when the club hasn’t managed to do it for 14 years, I tell you it will be a boost.”
“The margins are so small. You find a way to do it again. I see how much they want it, how much they try and they are able to sacrifice anything to win.
When you play like this at the end good things are going to come your way.
“Now I’m going to sit at home, I’m going to look at the other teams we have to play and start another big mountain to climb.”
This wasn’t the first time Conceicao had taken issue with his opposite number in the Champions League.
He accused then-Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel of insulting him when the Blues knocked Porto out at the quarterfinal stage in April 2021.
Arsenal Champions League progression will mean they now have midweek games ahead of their league matches against Aston Villa and Wolves next month.
