Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta breaks silence on claims that he insulted Sergio Conceicao's dead relative during UCL showdown
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has broken his silence after being accused by Porto coach Sergio Conceicao of insulting the latter's dead relative.
The Gunners locked horns against FC Porto in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 at the Emirates on Tuesday, March 12. Arteta's side entered the clash, having lost the first leg 1-0 on February 22. However, Leandro Trossard brought the EPL side back on level terms in aggregate with his 41st-minute strike.
The home team won the penalty shootout 4-2 to proceed to the last eight of the competition. As the Gunners were celebrating, Arteta and Conceicao were spotted having a heated row. Ceonceicao refused to shake Arteta's hands and later told the media (via Metro):
"What Arteta says or doesn’t say… During the game he turned to the bench in Spanish and insulted my family and at the end, I told him that whoever he insulted is no longer with us. Let him worry about training his team who has a lot of quality to play more."
When later asked what happened between him and Conceicao by the Portuguese media, Arteta said on the incident:
"Absolutely nothing."
Further pressed, Arteta said:
"No Comments."
According to the Daily Telegraph, the Arsenal boss has strongly dismissed Coenceicao's claims of insulting his dead relative.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta reacts to the Porto win
Heading into the second leg against Porto, Arsenal had the job of coming back from behind. After coming back from the deficit to level the score on aggregate, Arteta's side were also clinical in the penalties.
Arteta said after the game that his side needed to be patient in the build-up play to carb out openings. He told the media (via the Gunners' website):
“It was very difficult to get constant momentum in the game, with the way they play, credit to them. We knew that that was going to be the case, we had to be really patient and emotionally controlled, and wait for the moments. We were going to have moments and, in those moments, we had to put them away and we’ve done that.”
Arsenal join Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Barcelona as the teams that have already qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season.