After the injury news was out of the way at Antonio Conte’s press conference yesterday, there was only one thing the media were interested in.
Conte’s feud with Jose Mourinho had bubbled up last season when the Manchester United manager was unhappy with his counterpart’s celebrations during the 4-0 win at Stamford Bridge, and continued with a war of words in January that got genuinely personal.
But this time the Italian wasn’t having it, straight batting the desperate journos’ questions back. In Manchester, at the same moment, Jose Mourinho was doing the same. While the Portuguese was hardly effusive about Conte’s character, he simply said he was a great coach and left it at that.
While relations are hardly going to be cordial tomorrow, it at least seems there will be some decency on the sidelines.
Which of them has the chance to celebrate remains to be seen, but you can be sure whoever it is won’t be holding back.
