Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger were involved in a shoving match on Sunday as Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Wenger took exception to a tackle from Gary Cahill on Alexis Sanchez
that earned the England defender a booking in the first half, and made
his feelings clear to his opposite number, who didn't back down.
The two managers have long disliked each other, with this just the latest in a long series of spats.
Wenger's record against Mourinho now reads Played: 12, Won: 0, Drawn:
5, Lost: 7, Scored: 6, Conceded: 21 and the pair disappeared down the
tunnel after the game without shaking hands.
Asked if he regretted the managers' long-running feud turning
physical, Wenger said: "No. What is to regret after that? I wanted to go
from A to B and somebody confronted me in between without any sign of
welcome. B was Sanchez, to see how badly he was injured.''
Mourinho told the Frenchman to "back off'' as the Gunners boss firmly
planted two hands on the Portuguese's chest -- risking Football
Association disciplinary action -- and the pair also eye-balled each
other in close quarters.
"Honestly I don't listen to what he says,'' Wenger added. "Look I
trust you that you (the media) will teach me all the moral lessons over
the next three weeks. And I can accept that.''
Wenger admitted it was a push, saying "a little one''. He added: "I
can try to push you. You can see when I really try to push.''
The managers have a long history of conflict. Mourinho on Friday
refused to apologise for in February labelling Wenger "a specialist in
failure'' and their latest contretemps will have soured the relationship
further.
The Chelsea boss preferred to move on. Mourinho said: "Forget that
(the push). A football pitch is a football pitch, so no problem.
"It becomes heated because this is a big game, big clubs, big rivals,
(an) important match for both teams. These conditions make a game of
emotions.
"There are two technical areas, one for me, one for him. He was
coming to my technical area and he was not coming for the right reasons.
He was not coming to give some tactical instructions or something.
"He was coming to press the referee to give a red card and I didn't like that.''
Mourinho praised Jonathan Moss for his handling of the incident,
which saw referee Martin Atkinson warn both managers after consulting
the fourth official. The Blues boss, who did not speak to Wenger
afterwards, declined to criticise his opposite number's conduct.
"To be fair, I do so many wrong things in football,'' Mourinho added.
"Sometimes you lose emotion and I did so many wrong things, but not
this time, because this time I was just in my technical area and it was
not my problem. Game over. Story over.''
