Arsenal have denied Mikel Arteta insulted the family of Porto manager Sergio Conceicao in the aftermath of the Gunners’ dramatic penalty shootout win in the last-16 of the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Conceicao was involved in an altercation on the pitch with Arteta at the end of the game and gave a terse explanation of what was said.
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.”
Arsenal sources, however, denied any offensive or insulting sentence towards the Porto manager, adding that Arteta has refuted the allegations.
Raya helps Arsenal reach Champions League quarter-finals in 14 years
“No comment. Thanks very much,” the Gunners boss told Sky Sports when asked about Conceicao’s accusation.
The altercation came at the end of a dramatic evening at the Emirates as Arsenal beat Porto 4-2 on penalties to reach a first Champions League quarter-final in 14 years.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Portugal, 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 inside 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.
Arsenal must wait nearly three weeks for their next game after the postponement of their Premier League home fixture against Chelsea due to the Blues’ FA Cup participation this weekend, which is then followed by an international break.
Arsenal return to action with a huge title clash against Manchester City as the Gunners go to the Etihad Stadium on March 31.
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