Arsenal has issued a statement refuting Porto manager Sergio Conceicao’s claim that Mikel Arteta made a derogatory comment about his family during the recent Champions League match.
The London club, who advanced after a penalty shootout, firmly rejects the allegation that Arteta uttered the purported insult.
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After a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Lisbon, Arsenal equalized shortly before the break thanks to Leandro Trossard’s goal.
Despite Porto’s tenacious defense limiting Arsenal’s opportunities, the game concluded with a 1-1 draw on aggregate following extra time. Arsenal’s goalkeeper David Raya emerged as the standout, saving two penalties, and the team executed a flawless 4-2 victory in the shootout.
Conceicao seemed visibly upset with Arteta during a tense moment on the field immediately after the game. Later, the Porto coach expressed his grievances about Arteta during a press conference.
Conceicao said: “The result was injust. Our team deserved to go through. “What Arteta said, towards the bench in Spanish, he insulted my family. He should focus on training his team.”
Arsenal swiftly countered the allegations, with representatives from the club informing ESPN that Arteta vehemently refutes the claims made against him.
When asked about the exchange with Conceicao, Arteta said: “No comment. Thank you very much.”
Arsenal has successfully advanced to the quarter-finals of the premier European club tournament, marking their first appearance at this stage in 14 years.
In his debut Champions League season, Arteta has commended goalkeeper David Raya for his crucial penalty saves against the Brazilian pair, Wendell and Galeno.
Arteta said: “Magic, what we expected, a really tough opponent, really well organised, very difficult to generate constant momentum in the game in the way they play and that’s credit to them.
“We did it, we scored a beautiful goal, they insisted in different ways, in the way the game allowed as well, and it’s such a huge experience for us.
“We had to do it at the end with the penalties, we prepared well, and credit to the coaches as well for the way they did it and obviously for David [Raya].
“He had some difficult moments to start but he stood up, had an incredible personality and ambition, and at the end he got rewarded with his moment.”
Arsenal is set to participate in the quarter-final draw of the prestigious European competition on Friday morning, with the possibility of a matchup against their title contenders, Manchester City.
Arteta acknowledges that his team has taken a significant stride forward in their quest to secure a trophy after a four-year hiatus.
He added: “For them to do it when the club hasn’t managed to do it for 14 years, it tells you the difficulty of it.
“When the margins are so small, we found a way to do it again.
“I see how much they want it, and how much they try, they are able to sacrifice anything to win and when you play like this at the end it’s going to come your way sooner or later and it happened tonight.
“It’s another big step, especially as a club. The last seven years we haven’t been in this competition, the last 14 we haven’t been where we are today.
“That’s the difficulty of it, the best thing is we are not satisfied, we want more and we are going to try to go through the next round for sure.”
