Gunners boss speaks out on Porto boss row amid claims he insulted Porto manager’s family

Tony Mogan reports for Metro that Mikel Arteta says there was ‘absolutely nothing’ in his row with Sergio Conceicao, with the Porto boss accusing him of ‘insulting his family’.

Arsenal booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 14 years after beating the Portuguese giants on penalties at the Emirates on Wednesday night.

During the Arsenal celebrations, Conceicao and Arteta were 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 in the end, I told him that whoever he insulted was no longer with us.

‘Let him worry about training his team with a lot of quality to play more.’

When Portuguese media asked Arteta what sparked the issue, he remarked ‘absolutely nothing’ before being quizzed again in his post-match press conference.

When asked what happened between him and the Porto boss at full-time, Arteta responded, ‘No comment,’ before quickly exiting, getting up from the table, and ending the presser.

Conceicao’s comments quickly began to circulate further following Arteta’s media obligations. The Daily Telegraph reports that Arteta strongly denied the accusation after being informed of the details behind Conceicao’s claim.

Tensions between Arteta and Conceicao were already high heading into Tuesday’s game. The Spaniard was critical of Porto’s approach in the first leg, insisting they had ‘no intention of playing.’

Conceicao returned to 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 leveled the tie in the first half of Tuesday’s clash at the Emirates, which went 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 is entering 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.