Mikel Arteta hails ‘magical night’ as Arsenal beat Porto on penalties to reach Champions League quarter-finals and plays down Sergio Conceicao row… after Portuguese accused him of ‘insulting his family’

David Raya emerged as Arsenal’s hero as they booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals in bad-blooded victory over Porto.

Goalkeeper Raya saved two penalties in a tense shoot-out after Leandro Trossard levelled the aggregate score to send the Emirates into delirium as the Gunners secured their place in the last eight for the first time since 2010.

But the game was marred by clashes between both sets of players and benches while rival managers Mikel Arteta and Sergio Conceicao, who accused his opposite number of insulting his family, were involved in a heated confrontation after the final whistle.

‘It was a magical night. It was what we expected against a tough opponent, who were really well organised, said Arteta.

‘We scored a beautiful goal. That’s a huge experience for us, we needed penalties and we prepared well of that.

Mikel Arteta has hailed a ‘magical night’ for Arsenal as they reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years 

Arteta and his opposite number Sergio Conceicao (above) were involved in a heated confrontation after the final whistle

Conceicao accused Arteta of insulting his family in Spanish during the game 

‘We found a way, I can see how much they want to win. How much they were sacrificing. When you play like, this sooner or later it’s going to go your way.

‘I’ve probably not experienced an atmosphere like that at the Emirates, it was amazing from the start to to the end. Huge thank you to them and today I thought they impacted the game.

On the shoot out, Arteta added: ‘We practice at the training ground, a few of them missed, but in the end you have to do it on the night.

‘It’s big step for the club, the best thing is we are not satisfied and we want to go to the next round.’

Raya added: ‘Obviously it’s a great feeling for me personally, first time in the Champions League and for the club to get into the quarter-finals for the first time in so many years.

‘We played a really good game from the start. We dominated, created chances and it went down to penalties. 

The Gunners won 1-0 on the night but needed penalties to progress to the quarter-finals

David Raya was the hero as he saved two of Porto’s four penalties in the shootout 

‘We’ve worked a lot on penalties this year and all the hard work with the goalie coach and the team has paid off.’

Conceicao accused Arteta of disrespecting his family during the game.

When asked about the clash with the Gunners boss after the final whistle, Conceicao replied: ‘The result was unjust. The team deserved to go through. What Arteta said, towards the bench in Spanish, he insulted my family. He should focus on training his team.’

Arteta refused to comment on the matter after the game.