CONTE SNUBS MOURINHO

Chelsea manager says handshake ritual is ‘not important’ after win over Red Devils

LONDON

CHELSEA manager Antonio Conte has claimed it is “not important” that he failed to shake Jose Mourinho’s hand after his side beat Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday.

Alvaro Morata scored the only goal of the game at Stamford Bridge as Conte’s men recovered from a disappointing midweek loss in Rome to clinch a hardfought home win.

However, as the full-time whistle sounded, Conte chose to ignore his counterpart on the touchline and instead went to celebrate with fans behind the dugout before moving onto the pitch to congratulate his players.

Mourinho appeared to briefly wait to see if Conte would partake but when it was clear the Italian had snubbed him the Portuguese shook hands with members of Chelsea’s backroom staff before heading down the tunnel.

After the celebrations had come to an end, Conte downplayed the significance of exchanging post-match pleasantries.

“Handshake is not important, it is important to win game, to shake hand could be important not important, but more important is what is on pitch,” said the Chelsea manager.

Mourinho also went on to downplay the incident

“You don’t want me to chase him into the middle of the pitch,” Mourinho said.

“I shook hands with the people who are there (on the touchline). I think one of them was his brother, his assistant.

“I feel I did my duty. I cannot go to chase him.

“He doesn’t have to wait. There is no problem with it at all. You are always worried with these things.”

Tensions were high between the two managers going into Sunday’s game after the pair exchanged blows earlier this week.

Mourinho stepped up the feud by once again declaring rival bosses complain too much about injuries — a criticism which riles Conte.

The Italian swiped back by saying that Chelsea’s title win last season was a ‘miracle’ given that he had more or less the same players who had finished 10th the season before, under Mourinho.

Meanwhile, the decision to axe David Luiz could cost Conte his job.

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville said recent Stamford Bridge history suggests there will only be one winner after the huge call to leave out Luiz following a training-ground bust-up.

Neville said: “Every manager who has taken on the players here has gone pretty quickly. It is a big call because if you take on these players in that dressing room, where David Luiz is a big influence, a big character, you can lose at this club. This is not the end of this — this is the start.

“Conte has won today, but in two or three weeks’ time if David Luiz is still sat on that bench, every time they concede a goal, the cameras will flip to David Luiz. It was the same with John Terry.”

Terry was infamously subbed at half-time by Jose Mourinho during a trouncing at Manchester City in 2015.

Conte’s bust-up with Luiz is the latest falling-out between the manager and a star player at Chelsea. He has previously fallen out with Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic, who both left the club.

Neville’s fellow pundit Graeme Souness said it was a huge call by Conte.

He said: “You can do it if you are in a position of strength. To do what he has done is an extremely big call. The only other defender on the bench was (Ethan) Ampadu, who is 17.

“It’s a hell of a big call and he got away with it. They’ve won and that is a reminder to everyone in that dressing room who the boss is.

“How many allies does David Luiz have in that dressing room? Maybe three or four who would side with him, and that is what makes the manager vulnerable.

“You’re not just falling out with one player, you’re falling out with four, five, six — those six could be worth £200 million (RM1.1 billion).” Agencies