“He spoke about our country using ugly words”
Porto manager Sergio Conceicao has torn into Pep Guardiola following his side’s feisty Champions League encounter with Manchester City, accusing him of attempting to pressurise match officials.
The Portuguese champions took an early lead at The Etihad on Wednesday courtesy of a brilliant individual effort from Luis Diaz, but ended up losing the game 3-1.
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City were able to draw level from a contentious penalty decision minutes after Porto’s opener. Conceicao and his team were infuriated by the awarding of the spot-kick, believing Ilkay Gundogan’s challenge on goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin should have resulted in a free-kick to them.
This set the tone for the ill-tempered atmosphere in which the rest of the game was played, with Conceicao exchanging heated words with Guardiola before and after half-time.
Speaking to Portuguese media after full-time, Conceicao sarcastically suggested he had plenty to learn from his City counterpart.
“I’ve got a lot to learn from Pep Guardiola, in the way he pressures referees, talks to opposition players and opposition dugout,” the Porto coach is quoted as saying by The Telegraph. “He’s a fantastic example. I have to learn this. We were angels compared to the other dugout.
“He spoke about our country using ugly words. Guardiola’s attitude was extremely unpleasant. The whole Manchester City dugout was because if anybody should have been complaining, it was the Porto bench, because we were extremely hard done by.”
Conceicao continued to criticise the performance of referee Andris Treimanis, adding that his display was far below the standards set by Portuguese officials.
“I have to apologise to the referees in Portugal, because I complain when I think we are wronged, but comparing the officials of this game and those upstairs in the VAR, international referees have a lot to learn from ours,” he said.
