Sergio Conceicao accused Mikel Arteta of being 'insulting' following the Arsenal’s dramatic Champions League last-16 win – and it’s emerged the Porto coach has a history of making similar accusations against rival managers.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, the Gunners leveled the score in the 41st minute through Leandro Trossard, who scored to energize the Emirates.
But the two sides could not be separated after normal and extra-time, so the tie had to be decided via a nerve-wracking penalty shootout, which saw Tuesday’s hosts prevail as 4-2 winners – with Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice all converting from 12 yards.
Wendell and Galeno – Porto’s hero last time out – both had their spot-kicks saved by David Raya to spark jubilant scenes in north London as Arsenal, the current Premier League leaders, booked a quarter-final spot in the competition for the first time since 2010.
Conceicao, who had earlier clashed with Havertz, refused to shake hands with Arteta and the pair exchanged a few heated words before being pulled apart and making their way down the tunnel.
At a fierce post-match press conference, the 49-year-old Porto head coach went on to claim that Arteta had insulted a deceased relative.
Asked about his argument with the Arsenal boss, Conceicao told reporters: ‘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.’
Arsenal have refuted Conceicao’s accusation, stating that no such insult was made against the Portuguese by Arteta.
As Conceicao mentioned after the game, he made a similarly explosive accusation against Guardiola – who he described as ‘unpleasant’ – following Porto’s Champions League group-stage defeat to Manchester City back 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,’ Conceicao said in the aftermath of Porto’s loss.
‘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.
‘The whole Manchester City dugout was because if anybody should have been complaining, it was the Porto bench, because we were extremely hard done by.’
Later on in Porto’s European campaign that season, Conceicao revealed he had reported Thomas Tuchel to the officials for insulting him after the Primeira Liga outfit were eliminated from the competition by Chelsea.
'I was offended by this man who lives nearby,' he said after the angry second part of the teams' quarter-final match.
'I told the referee that the fourth referee overheard the insults. My English isn't perfect, so it's pointless to discuss it. There was no conversation because I was concentrating on the game, I don't know why he reacted.
'But I didn't understand it very well. I heard some insults, but it's over… it's not nice, and my annoyance in the end was related to it. I didn't even talk to him.'
Porto now need to refocus on their league games, as Conceicao’s team currently holds the third position in the Portuguese top flight, seven points behind Sporting, who are the leaders.
Arsenal, on the other hand, can now start thinking about the Champions League quarter-final draw scheduled for March 15.
Barcelona also secured their spot in the next round with a 4-2 total win over Napoli in Tuesday’s other second leg game.
Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid had already guaranteed their spots in the quarter-finals, while Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, and PSV Eindhoven are still in contention.
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