To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders
Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications
Published
Not one journalist asked the Porto manager a question, with repeated calls from the press officer being met by total silence from reporters present on Zoom.
So after sitting for a few seconds, Conceicao awkwardly got up and walked away.
This came after one of the greatest moments of Conceicao's career. His 10-man Porto may have lost 3-2 on the night in Turin in the last-16 second leg, but the 2-1 home result meant they knocked out the Serie A champions on away goals.
In the aftermath of the extra-time thriller, Conceicao sat down in the TV press conference and expectantly picked up the headphones.
:speaking_head: "Well, any questions?"
:speaking_head: "No?"
Porto manager Sergio Conceicao had one of the shortest press conferences as he faced no questions after knocking out Juventus pic.twitter.com/dBWM0a0muQ
- Football Daily (@footballdaily) March 10, 2021
His press officer then welcomed the media and said: "OK. Good evening for all of you following us through Zoom. Any questions?"
He was met by silence, so had another go: "For those of you following through Zoom, I would like you to pose your questions. I can't see any requests now."
"No Portuguese [journalists]?" asks Conceicao himself, probably well aware that the majority of the world's media will be waiting to quiz under-pressure Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo.
After a few more seconds of awkward silence, the press officer finishes: "That's it then, let's go." And the Porto coach gets up and walks away.
This is quite sad really. Outplayed Juve and deservedly through but didn't have a single journo asking anything about it ?! Probably because they wouldn't get any controversial/clickbaity headlines out of him which would interest fans worldwide? https://t.co/QTCXZlVGe9
- RedDevil (@RedDevilMUFC90) March 10, 2021
The 46-year-old, who's been in charge at Porto since 2017, had just led his team to a Champions League quarter-final.
THIS IS TRULY INCREDIBLE!!!!
Sérgio Oliveira scores for 10-man Porto and the visitors are on the brink of going through!
WHAT. A. GAME! pic.twitter.com/PkUAlrfxd5
- Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 9, 2021
However the big story on the night was the exit of Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo, the player they signed in 2018 in the hope that he could help them deliver the European trophy they crave.
Ronaldo has scored plenty of goals for Juve, but the team has not been past the quarter-final stage since he arrived.
On the night, Ronaldo and a game to forget and while Juventus came very close to winning the tie in normal time - Juan Cuadrado crashing a late shot off the underside of the bar that would have seen Juve through - it was Porto who prevailed thanks to Sergio Oliveira's free-kick.
Juventus were THIS CLOSE to going through in the 93rd minute! :scream:
A superb Juan Cuadrado effort rattled off the bar :x:
FT: Juventus 2-1 Porto (3-3 agg)
Next up: extra-time! :raised_hands: pic.twitter.com/t8ravwyQ3O
- Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 9, 2021
So you'd think someone, somewhere, would want to ask Conceicao a question about his team's against-the-odds triumph. But apparently not.
Let's just assume it was a brief, worldwide internet shutdown. Not just the fact that journalists solely wanted to ask questions of Pirlo and focus on Juventus and Ronaldo's struggles on the night.
Topics: porto, Champions League