Arsenal has denied Sergio Conceicao’s claim that their manager, Mikel Arteta, insulted a member of his family during Porto’s Champions League defeat at the Emirates Stadium last night.
After a heart wrenching night in North London, the Gunners reached the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite competition through a penalty for the first time in 14 years.
Goalkeeper David Raya shone with two saves that ignited wild jubilation in the stands and on the field of play.
Arteta later encountered an angry Conceicao, while walking to the centre circle.
Conceicao had accused Arteta of insulting a late family member in Spanish.
He said, “During the game, [Arteta] 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 who he insulted is no longer with us, and to worry about coaching his team, because due to individual quality, he has an obligation to do more and better.”
However, Arteta remained silent about this allegation and left the press conference. When the altercation was brought up Arteta said “No comment. Thanks very much.”
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The altercation is said to have come at the end of the magical night as the Gunners were able to qualify for the quarter finals for the first time in 14 years.
The Gunners were Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Portugal, but a goal from Leandro Trossard just before half-time levelled the tie late in the first half, but there, Arsenal’s momentum stalled as they failed to wrap the game up within 90 minutes.
After a nervous extra-time, it took heroics from goalkeeper David Raya, saving twice in the shootout, to put the hosts into the last-eight for the first time since Arsene Wenger’s team faced Barcelona in 2010.
While making his comments, Arteta said, “A magic night, We expected a really tough opponent. It’s very difficult to generate momentum and that’s credit to them.
“It’s a huge experience for us. We had to do it as well through penalties. Credit to David who had some difficult moments to start but showed incredible determination and stood up and got rewarded.”
This was only the second time Arsenal were taken to extra-time in a Champions League match, with the first being the 2008-09 last 16 against Roma, which they also progressed from after a penalty shootout.
Raya, speaking after the match, said: “Obviously, it’s a great feeling, especially for me personally my first time in the Champions League and the first time in a long time club has got to the quarter-finals.
“We’ve been working a lot on penalties this year because on a night like this you need to be good and the hard work has paid off. It’s a great night.”
Raya proved to all his doubters why he deserved to be Arteta’s number one goalkeeper.
