Arsenal respond to claims Mikel Arteta insulted dead family member

Mikel Arteta was embroiled in a post match clash with Porto manager Sergio Conceicao (Picture: Getty)

Arsenal have denied Sergio Conceicao’s claim that Mikel Arteta insulted a member of his family during Porto’s Champions League defeat at the Emirates Stadium.

A nerve-shredding night in north London eventually culminated in a momentous penalty shootout victory for the Gunners, who reached the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite comeptition for the first time in 14 years.

Goalkeeper David Raya, often maligned this season, proved to be the hero with two saves that sparked wild scenes of jubilation, both in the stands and on the field of play.

As Arteta made his way to the centre circle, however, he was confronted by a furious Conceicao who was seen gesticulating at the Arsenal boss and wagging a finger in his face.

In his post-match press conference, the former Portugal international accused his opposite number of making unacceptable comments and claimed: ‘During the game he 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 the person he insulted is no longer with us, and I told him to worry about coaching his team, because due to individual quality he has an obligation to do more and better.’

Arteta was asked for his response by the English media in his own post-game debrief and simply replied  ‘no comment’ before making a quick exit, getting up from the table and ending the presser.

Porto head coach Sergio Conceicao clashed with Mikel Arteta after Arsenal’s win (TNT Sports)

Arsenal, according to widespread reports, have issued an outright denial and insist no such insult was aimed at Conceicao.

Arteta, meanwhile, was effusive in his praise of his side who had to dig deep to find a different way to win, having swept all before them on the domestic front in recent weeks.

He said: ‘Magic, what we expected, a really tough opponent, really well organised, very difficult to generate constant momentum in the game in the way they play and that’s credit to them.

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‘We did it, we scored a beautiful goal, they insisted in different ways, in the way the game allowed as well, and it’s such a huge experience for us.

‘We had to do it at the end with the penalties, we prepared well, and credit to the coaches as well for the way they did it and obviously for David [Raya].

‘He had some difficult moments to start but he stood up, had an incredible personality and ambition, and at the end he got rewarded with his moment.’

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