Porto coach accuses Arsenal’s Arteta of insulting his family،
Porto coach Sergio Conceicao has accused Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta of insulting his family during Arsenal's shootout win over the Portuguese side who booked their place in the quarter-finals Champions League final for the first time since 2010.
Asked to explain what happened, Conceicao said through a UEFA interpreter: “During the match and towards the bench, in Spanish, I don't know if it has to do with the managers Spaniards, he insulted my family.
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“And then at the end, I said be careful, the one he insults is not between us, he should concentrate on training his team because they have a lot of individual qualities to do that.”
Sources at Arsenal told ESPN that Arteta strongly denied the accusation.
The Gunners topped the heated contest 4-2 on penalties after Leandro Trossard's 41st-minute goal leveled 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 scenes of jubilation at full time, but the two managers, who had been booked in separate incidents during the match, clashed again on the spot kick. final whistle.
After the match, however, 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.
“For [the team] “To do it when the club hasn’t managed it for 14 years, I tell you, it will be a boost,” Arteta said. “The margins are so small. You find a way to start again. I see how much they want it, how hard they try and they are able to sacrifice everything to win. When you play like that in the end, good things are going to happen to you .
“Now I’m going to sit at home, I’m going to watch the other teams we have to face and start another big mountain to climb.”
It was not the first time that Conceicao challenged his counterpart in the Champions League. He accused then-Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel of insulting him when the Blues eliminated Porto in the quarter-final in April 2021.
Conceicao also made a similar statement about Man City boss Pep Guardiola after a group stage match at the Etihad Stadium in October 2020.
“I have a lot to learn from Pep Guardiola, in the way he puts pressure on the referees, talks to the opposing players and in the opposing dugout,” the Porto coach said at the time. “It's a fantastic example. I have to learn that. We were angels compared to the other dugout. He spoke about our country with ugly words. Guardiola's attitude was extremely unpleasant.”
Arsenal join Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in the pot for Friday's quarter-final draw, with the winners of the last two last 16 matches – with Borussia Dortmund hosting the PSV Eindhoven and Internazionale at Atletico Madrid – – complete the final eight teams.
