Porto Manager Conceicao Aims Cheeky Dig at Arteta After UCL Win Over Arsenal

The Porto manager, Sergio Conceicao, has responded to Mikel Arteta, who had criticised Porto’s style of play following the team’s 1-0 victory over Arsenal.

During the first leg of the two teams’ round of 16 match, Arteta implied in his post-match speech that Conceicao’s Porto team had “no intention of playing” on Wednesday night as the Portuguese team defended valiantly and held the Gunners to zero shots on goal. In the final moments of the match, the hosts were able to put one past the Premier League team and will now take a 1-0 lead to the Emirates.

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When asked about Arteta’s comments, Conceicao hit back at the Spaniard: “It’s an opinion. They wanted to play, we wanted to win. Arteta is from the [Pep] Guardiola school, who is the coach with the most titles in the world. They think that the best way to beat their opponents is to have more possession of the ball, but that depends on the team and the performers they have.”

“We had 40%-60% possession of the ball, which is not a scandal. I didn’t mind having 30%-70% and winning too. It all depends on what you do with the ball within the strategy defined to score goals.”

The precision and fluidity that Arteta’s team has shown in the Premier League over the past year, particularly in the last five games where they have scored 21 goals overall, were absent from the team. Conceicao’s team put on an incredible defensive display, preventing them from scoring any goals at the Estadio do Dragao.

In the second leg of the round of 16 at the Emirates on March 12, the two teams will square off once more. Arsenal’s goal is to keep up their title fight with Manchester City and Liverpool, therefore they have three Premier League games before Porto clash.