Mikel Arteta says there was ‘absolutely nothing’ in his dispute with Sergio Conceicao – with the Porto boss accusing him of ‘insulting his family’.
Arsenal secured their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 14 years after defeating the Portuguese giants on penalties at the Emirates on Wednesday night.
During the Arsenal celebrations, Conceicao and Arteta were seen in a heated exchange on the pitch with the Porto head coach refusing to shake hands and angrily gesturing at the Gunners boss.
In his post-match press conference, the Portuguese said: ‘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’.
Asked by Portuguese media what sparked the issue, Arteta remarked ‘absolutely nothing’ before being quizzed again in his post-match press conference.
Asked what happened between him and the Porto boss at full-time, Arteta responded ‘no comment’ before making a quick exit, getting up from the table and ending the presser.
Conceicao’s comments quickly began to further circulate following Arteta’s media obligations. Arteta strongly denied the accusation after being informed of the details behind Conceicao’s claim, the Daily Telegraph report.
Tensions between Arteta and Conceicao were already high heading into Tuesday’s game with the Spaniard critical of Porto’s approach in the first leg, insisting they had ‘no intention of playing’.
Conceicao hit back at Arteta’s assessment in his post-match interview two weeks ago, commenting: ‘It’s an opinion. They wanted to play, we wanted to win.’
Leandro Trossard equalized the tie in the first-half of Tuesday’s clash at the Emirates with the tie going to penalties.
David Raya was the Arsenal hero, saving two spot kicks with Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka all converting theirs.
Arsenal advance into the last eight of the Champions League, joining Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.
The winners of Borussia Dortmund vs PSV Eindhoven and Atletico Madrid vs Inter Milan will join those sides in Friday’s draw.
