Mourinho ignites Conte row after Chelsea ‘humiliation’

LONDON — Jose Mourinho accused Antonio Conte of trying to humiliate him during his nightmare return to Stamford Bridge in which Chelsea thrashed Manchester United 4-0.

And the row continued into the tunnel after a member of Mourinho’s backroom staff refused to shake Chelsea head coach Conte’s hand and was confronted by one of the Italian’s assistants.

Goals from Pedro, Gary Cahill, Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante completed a miserable first return to Chelsea for Mourinho since he was sacked by the club last December.

The flashpoint between the pair came at the final whistle after Conte had gesticulated for the Stamford Bridge crowd to start singing for their team with time running out.

Speaking in Italian, Mourinho used the full-time handshake to tell Conte that his cheerleading had been an attempt to humiliate him in front of his former fans.

Conte denied that was his motivation, insisting he felt his team deserved the adulation of the crowd.

It was not just Manchester United manager Mourinho who did not take the defeat well. A member of his staff ignored the outstretched hand of Conte at the final whistle and was involved in a heated argument in the tunnel.

Both Mourinho and Conte refused to confirm what was said, but neither man denied the version of events that was put to them.

Conte said: “I think private conversations must remain private. We live with emotions. I think it’s right to celebrate when you win. If you want to cut the emotions, we can stay at home and I will change jobs.”

On the incident with Conte, Mourinho said: “You know me. I spoke to Conte, not to you. I’m not the kind of guy to come here and share with you things I don’t want to share. I have no comment.” THE DAILY TELEGRAPH