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Porto coach Sergio Conceicao accused Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta of insulting his family during Arsenal‘s shootout win over the Portuguese side that booked their place in the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time since 2010.
Asked to elaborate on what had happened, Conceicao said through a UEFA interpreter: “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.
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“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 told ESPN 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.
“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,” said Arteta. “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.
Conceicao also made a similar claim about Man City boss Pep Guardiola following a group stage game at Etihad Stadium in October 2020.
“I’ve got a lot to learn from Pep Guardiola, in the way he pressures referees, talks to opposition players and the opposition dugout,” the Porto coach said at the time. “He’s a fantastic example. I have to learn this. We were angels compared to the other dugout. He spoke about our country using ugly words. Guardiola’s attitude was extremely unpleasant.”
Arsenal join Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain in the pot for Friday’s quarterfinal draw, with the winners of the remaining two last-16 games — Borussia Dortmund hosting PSV Eindhoven and Internazionale away to Atletico Madrid — rounding out the final eight teams.