"They wanted to play, we wanted to win" - FC Porto manager hits back at Mikel Arteta's comments following win over Arsenal

Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by FC Porto on February 21 in the first leg of their Round-of-16 clash in the UEFA Champions League (UCL). Gunners boss Mikel Arteta made it clear that his side showed better spirit to play football, despite the loss.

Reacting to those comments, Porto manager Sergio Conceicao said in the post-match presser (via Metro):

"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."

He continued:

"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."

As per stats, Arsenal had 65% possession of the ball during the game. Arteta's team had seven shots in total, out of which zero were on target. Porto had eight shots in total, with two on target and one resulting in a goal.

Galeno scored the only goal of the game in the 94th minute to hand the Portuguese team a 1-0 aggregate lead going into the second leg.

What did Mikel Arteta say after Arsenal's defeat in Porto?

Arteta's initial comments after the defeat saw him praise the Gunners players and criticize Porto by accusing them of creating a low-block defensive approach for the game.

Arteta said:

"We are very used to playing against these defensive blocks, especially in the first half we lacked certain things. We will learn from it and be better in the return game."

He added:

"The best thing about our team was the attitude. We wanted to play. We didn’t lack aggression. Faced with such a low block and a team with no intention of playing, this is what we have to do."

The return leg will be played at the Emirates Stadium on March 12.