NO LOVE LOST IN DUST-UP
JOSE MOURINHO lit the blue touch paper to a bitter rivalry by placing his index finger on his lips in a pointed message for the Liverpool fans to be quiet.
Chelsea had just equalised through a Steven Gerrard own goal in the 2005 League Cup final in Cardiff and the Special One couldn’t resist goading the Kop followers.
His side went on to win 3-2, the first piece of silverware of the
Roman Abramovich era.
Mourinho tried to claim his actions were aimed at the media, but the damage had been done and there were some abrasive encounters on and off the pitch for these two clubs.
Current bosses Jurgen Klopp and Frank Lampard have continued to fan the flames.
Mourinho had often in his two phases in charge of the west London club been the pantomime figure, aided and abetted in the early days by Rafa Benitez, never slow to offer a poignant observation.
A couple of months after the League Cup success, Mourinho was bemoaning Luis Garcia’s ‘ghost goal’ as Liverpool triumphed in the Champions League semi-final en route to ‘the miracle of Istanbul’.
“It was a goal from the moon or from the Anfield stands,”raged Mourinho. “The best team lost.”
The Portuguese almost exacted his revenge by nearly signing Steven Gerrard – a move which severely damaged the clubs’ relationship.
And in 2013 came the Luis Suarez bite on Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic which cost the Anfield man a 10-game ban, before Mourinho in his second coming was at it again.
Steven Gerrard’s slip the following year enabled Demba Ba to score and wreck Liverpool’s title ambitions – much to Mourinho’s delight as he proudly beat his chest in front of the travelling Chelsea fans.
No doubt he would have enjoyed last season’s finale when, during a 5-3 defeat at Anfield, Lampard let rip at Klopp, accusing his bench of arrogance. “Only title you’ve ever won and you think you can give it the big one – f*** off!” he shouted.
Klopp said: “For me, it’s after the game, it’s over. He has to learn to finish it with the final whistle.”
And last week there was a brief spat over Chelsea’s spending in the transfer window. Klopp said: “For some clubs it seems less important how uncertain the future is.”
Back came Lampard, admiring Liverpool’s success, before adding: “It has been built on big buys.”
The barbs continue to flow. Roll on today’s latest encounter.