Porto head coach, Sergio Conceicao has explained that his side defeated Arsenal 1-0 in the Champions League Round of 16 first leg clash on Wednesday night because his team wanted to win.

Conceicao said this while hitting back at Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta’s suggestion that the Porto team had ‘no intention of playing’ during the Gunners’ Champions League defeat.

When asked about Arteta’s assessment on Porto’s approach to the match, Conceicao said at his post-match interview: “It is an opinion. They wanted to play, we wanted to win.”

He added, “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 did not mind having 30%-70% and winning too.”

Porto will travel to Emirates Stadium for the return leg in the coming days.

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