Declan Rice shares Arsenal dressing room heartbreak as rival manager hits back
Arsenal have work to do if they want to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League after Wednesday's disappointing 1-0 first leg defeat against Porto.
The Gunners had 65 per cent possession but failed to register a single shot on target as Porto nicked it in the 94th minute. Ganelo curled home from distance to give the Portuguese side a slender advantage heading into the second leg at the Emirates in March.
Next up for Mikel Arteta's side is a Premier League game against Newcastle as they look to continue their title charge. Arsenal currently sit third in the table, four points behind Liverpool and they can close the gap on the leaders with a win over the Magpies on Saturday evening.
Here is the latest news from the Gunners.
Rice's dressing room claim
Declan Rice has claimed that the mood inside the Arsenal dressing room was positive at full-time despite falling to defeat against Porto.
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The Gunners had won their previous five matches - scoring 21 goals in the process - heading into Wednesday's trip to the Estadio do Dragao. Although the performance and result was not what the Gunners may have wanted, Rice insists the mood was upbeat.
He told Hayters TV: "Look, we have lost games this year – and drawn games – and I've seen the changing room after. It's been really bad. But tonight, we have just lost, but there's real positivity around the group at the minute, we've had such a good start to 2024. We take the positives from tonight and see where we can improve."
Declan Rice spoke out after Arsenal's 1-0 defeat to Porto (Arsenal)Porto boss hits back
Sergio Conceicao brutally hit back at Mikel Arteta's comments about his Porto team - by saying Arsenal should focus on winning games rather than trying to look pretty.
Porto sat deep for much of the night as Arsenal dominated the ball, but created the better chances on the counter attack. However, an unhappy Arteta criticised Porto's style post-game, claiming they had "no intention of playing".
When asked about Arteta's comments Conceicao made his stance on the night, and the result, very clear: "It's an opinion. "They wanted to play, we wanted to win."
Read the full story here.
Sergio Conceicao has hit back at Mikel Arteta after Porto's 1-0 win over Arsenal (Getty Images)Galeno on Porto's gameplan
Porto's goalscoring hero Galeno has warned Arsenal that his side will again use the gameplan that saw them beat the Gunners in their second leg in three weeks.
“The merit of my goal belongs to the whole team for everything we did in the 90 minutes. We worked well, defended well and the energy was there, on the pitch," Galeno said.
"I had the opportunity to shoot and I was fortunate to score a great goal that gave us with the victory. The team wins with my goal and I'm glad I helped my team go home with the victory.
"Nothing is won, though. We’re going to London to try to do what we did here and be a compact team, defending well. We’re aiming at coming back home with a ticket to the quarter finals.”
Arsenal lose eight players and sign three as January transfer window closes
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