Is the ‘Special’ relationship over?

LONDON. - The love affair is officially over. Jose Mourinho’s amazing spat with the Chelsea fans who used to worship him ended with the noisy rabble near the dug-out chanting: “You’re not special anymore.”

And as some Chelsea fans behind the dug- out chanted “f*** off Mourinho” during Monday’s fiery FA Cup tie, the Portuguese reacted by showing three fingers - one for each English Premier League soccer title he won with the Blues.

Sorry, Jose, there is no room for sentiment in this game. It was downright ungrateful but also proved there is no bond between Mourinho and Chelsea anymore.

The Chelsea faithful have a new hero in Antonio Conte, the fiery and passionate Italian who they love even more because of his running feud with Mourinho.

Fourth official Mike Jones even had to step in between Mourinho and Conte as tempers flared on the touchline after Manchester United’s Ander Herrera was sent off. Conte was there, face contorted with rage, screaming at Mourinho.

We thought the biggest feud this season would be Mourinho vs Pep Guardiola. But actually Conte vs Mourinho has become the most bitter, angry and, let’s be honest, entertaining and best managerial row in the English Premier League.

The little digs from Mourinho in recent weeks about Conte’s style of play only added fuel to the fire already burning from Chelsea’s win over United in October. Mourinho accused Conte of being disrespectful with his touchline celebrations.

It seemed that Mourinho would always be the “Special One” at Stamford Bridge, but, if not broken, the bond was severely damaged on Monday night.

Mourinho had spent the build-up to the game accusing Chelsea of playing defensive football and then upset a section of the home crowd by accusing Eden Hazard of diving.

It was not just the supporters Mourinho fought with, as he and his successor at Chelsea, Conte, fought a running verbal battle on the touchline.

Monday night’s game gave Real Madrid the perfect chance to judge their top two goalkeeping targets - David de Gea and Thibaut Courtois - against each other.

Both men have been superb this season, but it was De Gea who was the bus- ier man at Stamford Bridge.

The Spaniard made two incredible saves in the space of a couple of minutes to deny Eden Hazard and Gary Cahill. But he will have been disappointed not to stop N’Golo Kante’s opening goal from distance.

Whether or not this game dictates their summer transfer policy remains to be seen, but Real will not go wrong if they sign either De Gea or Courtois.

Mourinho will claim that referee Michael Oliver cost his side the game with the decision to show Ander Herrera a second yellow card and send him off in the first half.

There may be some merit to that argument as Hazard appeared to go down easily but, following a good start from United, Chelsea won the battle of the big players.

N’Golo Kante outperformed Paul Pogba, while Hazard was comfortably the most dangerous forward on the pitch. Marcus Rashford tried hard for the visitors and almost scored a great goal, but there was a moment when Kante simply bumped him off the ball that summed up which side were stronger.

Kante loves playing against Manchester United, as both of his Chelsea goals have come against Mourinho’s team. But it was not just Kante’s goal that caught the eye as he once again bossed the midfield against his France international team-mate Pogba.

If anybody looked like an £89 million footballer than it was Kante, who cost almost £60 million less than the United man.

With the Premier League title already virtually wrapped up, Chelsea must have serious ambitions of completing “The Double” in Conte’s first season in charge. Conte’s great friend Carlo Ancelotti won both the League and the Cup in his first season at Chelsea, and was sacked at the end of his second.

There is no love lost between Mourinho and Conte and their fascinating sub plot only succeeded in making a sensational FA Cup tie even more enthralling.

No love lost, furious and a million miles an hour. Don’t ever listen to anyone foolish enough to say the FA Cup does not matter anymore. Put two giants in the melting pot, stir it up and watch it boil over. It was fantastic.

And it also showed us that Chelsea have moved on from Mourinho because Conte is the new sheriff in town. - The Mirror.