Inside Man City's 'extremely unpleasant' touchline spat with Porto and petulant remark

Former Porto boss Sergio Conceicao previously accused Manchester City of “extremely unpleasant” behaviour towards officials during a heated clash in 2020. The two sides are set to cross paths again on Tuesday as their Champions League campaigns get underway. Their earlier meetings took place during the group stage six years ago, with City earning a 3-1 home victory over the Portuguese champions at the Etihad Stadium . Pep Guardiola’s side were forced to battle from behind after Luis Diaz opened the scoring before goals from Sergio Aguero, Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres secured the victory. It was a hard-fought opening win on City’s journey to reach the final at Porto’s Estadio do Dragao. However, Conceicao slammed City’s dugout in a post-match spat and petulantly claimed that he gained insight on how to treat officials from Guardiola’s conduct during the game. “I've got a lot to learn from Pep Guardiola , in the way he pressures referees, talks to opposition players and opposition dugout,” Porto boss Conceicao sarcastically said. “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.” The Porto manager’s ire stemmed from the decision to award a penalty for Aguero’s equaliser, as Gundogan had stood on goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin’s leg in the build-up. Conceicao also argued that the free-kick for Gundogan’s goal should not have been given and claimed that his side should have been awarded a spot kick for a push on Pepe. He added: "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 in Portugal. The refereeing had a big bearing on the outcome of this match.” Ahead of their second meeting two months later, Guardiola responded to Conceicao's claims: "I'm not agreeing. He can say, maybe it's his opinion, but I'm not agreeing that we pressure the referees. It's not the way that we in the history speak for ourselves. We are not the type of team to do this, honestly. I would admit it." City ultimately played out a 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture in Portugal. They were the only points Guardiola's side dropped in the group stage, later eliminating Borussia Monchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain before finishing runners-up to Chelsea . Porto also progressed to the knockout rounds, advancing past Juventus before also losing to Chelsea in the quarter-finals. The narrow 2-1 aggregate defeat ended the club’s dream of reaching the final in their home stadium. There will be two different coaches in the dugout when City meet Porto in the opening round of the league phase on Tuesday. New boss Enzo Maresca is looking to build on Guardiola’s legacy, which included him finally clinching the Champions League with City in 2023. Meanwhile, Conceicao’s seven-year reign ended in 2024. Francesco Farioli took the reins last summer and led Porto to the league title