Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has come under criticism for what he allegedly did during the win over Porto earlier this week.
The Gunners booked a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 14 years. It was a fantastic moment, but that was dampened by a serious accusation by Porto boss Sergio Conceicao.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told he ‘went too far’ during the win against Porto
Porto made it extremely difficult for Arsenal over two legs.
The Gunners were the more dominant team, but we really struggled to break them down as well as we would’ve liked. We were forced to go to penalties in the end and David Raya saved the day.
Porto manager Sergio Conceicao confronted Mikel Arteta after the game and refused to shake his hand. The 49-year-old then accused the Arsenal boss of insulting his family, which Arsenal have denied.
There has been a lot of discussion about the alleged incident since the game, and former France international Jerome Rothen, who apparently played against Arteta in the past, has now had a real go at him.
He said on his show on RMC Sport: “Arteta went too far. You can love yourself, see yourself as pretty, think you’re the future great manager of the world, there’s nothing to worry about, but he was already a bit like that when he was a player.
“I had the opportunity to play against him. He liked himself even thought he wasn’t the best player in the world. He didn’t like being tickled, even though he sometimes said things that went far.
“As a manager, you have to set an example. You can be arrogant and annoyed, but then you end up insulting your opponent… Stop! That’s not possible! One day, he’ll be caught out and he won’t like it… It almost happened on Tuesday.
“Conceicao, who’s a fiery person, reacted very well, whereas Arteta was out of line. I don’t understand why he didn’t apologise. He’s going to say again that he didn’t say anything.”
Arsenal are through to the quarter-finals
Sergio Conceicao has a history of accusing managers after losing to them – he did with Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel, and he has now done it again with Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal have denied his accusations, and that should be the end of that.
The most important fact is that Arsenal are through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, while Porto have gone home and deservedly so.
Conceicao can say whatever he wants, but Arsenal and Arteta should and will not care. We look at what’s in front of us in the Champions League now.