Porto’s head coach, Sergio Conceicao, has reported an incident of being verbally abused by Mikel Arteta on the sidelines during Arsenal’s recent Champions League triumph.
Arsenal clinched a spot in the upcoming Champions League quarter-final draw following a tense round-of-16 second-leg match at the Emirates Stadium.
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The game concluded with a 1-0 victory for Arsenal after extra time, leading to a penalty shootout to decide the winner.
Arsenal’s goalkeeper, David Raya, emerged as the standout performer, blocking two penalty shots. Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, and Declan Rice successfully converted their penalties, culminating in a 4-2 shootout victory against Porto.
Following the win, a brief altercation occurred between Conceicao and Arteta on the field, which was quickly diffused. This took place while Porto’s team acknowledged their fans’ support before exiting the stadium.
Conceicao later claimed that Arteta had made derogatory remarks about a deceased family member during the match.
When asked about his confrontation with the Gunners manager Arteta, Conceicao said in his post-match press conference: ‘That’s not important, what Arteta says or doesn’t say.
‘During the game he turned to the bench and in Spanish, it must be a Spanish coach thing because it was the same thing with [Pep] Guardiola, he insulted my family.
‘In the end I told him to pay attention because the person he insulted is no longer with us, and I told him to worry about coaching his team, because due to individual quality he has an obligation to do more and better.’
When questioned about the confrontation with Conceicao following the match, Arteta offered an unusual reply.
‘Yeah, really, really happy obviously,’ said the Arsenal manager.
‘We want more, let’s wait [to see] who do we have to play again and no comment.’
