Antonio Conte has made it plain he will not forget José Mourinho’s attack nor does he have any regrets over his part in the row that broke out between the pair last Friday.
The Chelsea manager said Mourinho was acting as if he had “demenza senile”, having taken exception to the Manchester United manager’s comments about how he did not have to “behave as a clown on the touchline” to prove his passion, which was interpreted as an attack on Conte.Mourinho then stated he would never be banned for match-fixing – an apparent reference to Conte’s four-month ban for failing to report the practice in Italy. An incensed Conte hit back by calling Mourinho a “little man” and a “fake.”
Conte is preparing for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge and he reported Eden Hazard was fit after a calf problem while the game would come too soon for Ross Barkley, the £15m signing from Everton, who is working to regain full fitness after a serious hamstring injury.
Inevitably, Conte was asked about Mourinho. “I have this look, of a person that regrets? I don’t think so,” Conte said, after giving his inquisitor a stony-faced stare. “I think we both said things and we’ll see what happens in future.”
Conte was asked whether the League Managers Association had entered the dispute in an effort to resolve it. “I think it’s not important, the association, you understand?” Conte said. “It’s not important. He said serious words and I won’t forget this. This is not a problem from the clubs, it’s a problem between me and him. I stop. Stop.”
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