Pepe captained Porto to victory over Arsenal in the Champions League (Picture: TNT Sports)
Rio Ferdinand lifted the lid on his conversation with Porto captain Pepe following the side’s 1-0 defeat of Arsenal, revealing his amazement that the defender was still able to put his body through Champions League football at the age of 40.
Former Real Madrid star Pepe became the oldest ever outfield player to start in a Champions League knockout match (40 years and 360 days old) as his Porto side stunned Arsenal at a rapturous Estadio do Dragao.
Remarkably, Lamine Yamal became the youngest starter in the history of the competition’s knockout phase (16 years and 223 days old) in Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Napoli on the same night.
The veteran Portugal centre-half, who turns 41 on Monday, managed to keep the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli quiet before Galeno beat David Raya with a long-range strike in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
It leaves the last-16 tie finely poised ahead of the teams’ second meeting at the Emirates on March 12 and Mikel Arteta cut a frustrated figure at the death, while Pepe and his Porto team-mates came away dreaming of the quarter-finals.
Shortly after the final whistle, Ferdinand caught up with Pepe on the touchline and the former Manchester United centre-back revealed what he said to the Porto skipper on TNT Sports.
‘They were marshalled by that man in there. I think he’s 41 on Monday. It’s ridiculous to think how he’s getting his body through,’ Ferdinand said.
‘That’s what I was saying to him, “How are you doing this?!”, and he was like: “I’m still strong!”
‘He still feels confident.
‘A lot of it, Martin Keown said it off air, it’s in the mind at that point.’
Galeno stunned Arsenal with a long-range strike in stoppage time (Picture: Getty)
A frustrated Mikel Arteta said his side lacked ‘aggression’ and ‘threat’ in possession against Sergio Conceicao’s men.
‘Obviously we have to manage much better,’ Arteta told TNT Sports after the Gunners’ defeat.
‘We cannot win with the way we handled the ball on three occasions in deep areas it’s not good enough.
‘If you want to be in the quarter-finals you have to beat your opponent and this is what we will have to do at the Emirates now. We lacked threat. We lacked aggression, especially with the ball in the final third. We can do better.’
More Trending
The Spaniard praised Porto for successfully shutting down Arsenal’s attacking firepower with the resolute way they defended across the 90 minutes.
‘I think it’s a team that’s very well-organised defensively and they break your rhythm all the time,’ he added.
‘There are certain things we will have to do much better, we know what to expect.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Arsenal news, exclusives and analysis
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.