Arsene Wenger vs Jose Mourinho rivalry: Five mega bust-ups between the feuding bosses ahead of Arsenal’s crunch clash at Manchester United
JOSE MOURINHO and Arsene Wenger’s have rowed from day one.
And it’s gone as far as moving from verbal to physical since The Special One landed in the Prem 11 years ago.
When Wenger takes his Arsenal team to Manchester United on Saturday it will be a case of rivals reunited at Old Trafford.
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Here, SunSport looks at the warring pair’s top five bust-ups…
October 2014
Wenger cannot hold back his anger anymore and pushes Mourinho in the chest, forcing the then-Chelsea manager to stumble backwards on the touchline.
The Arsenal manager was furious after Gary Cahill’s tackle on Alexis Sanchez with just 20 minutes of the London derby gone.
Wenger came out of his technical area to plead with ref Martin Atkinson before lashing out at the oncoming Mourinho.
The pair did not shake hands at full-time at the Bridge after Chelsea won 2-0.
September 2016
The Prem’s longest-running and most bitter feud is not confined to England.
Spanish paper Marca reported that the managers clashed again at Uefa’s coaching conference in Switzerland on transfer deadline day.
They claim that Mourinho wanted to sit next to Paris Saint-Germain manager Unai Emery and Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane for Sir Alex Ferguson’s opening speech.
Crafty Wenger was sitting close by.
Mourinho then reportedly asked Wenger if he could take his spot. The Arsenal boss replied: “No, it is not possible.”
That is said to have led to an awkward atmosphere with several observers laughing at the clash.
February 2014
“Specialist in failure.”
Three words. Three daggers to the heart of Wenger. Three knockout punches delivered witheringly by Mourinho.
The Gunners chief had claimed Prem bosses – Mourinho in particular – were playing down their title chances because they “fear to fail”.
Cue Mourinho.
He said: “If he is right and I am afraid of failure it is because I didn’t fail many times.
“Eight years without silverware, that’s failure. He’s a specialist in failure.
“If I do that in Chelsea, eight years, I leave and don’t come back.”
That, coupled with a spat over the £37million transfer of Juan Mata, led Mourinho to claim: “I will find him [Wenger] one day outside a football pitch and I will break his face.”
Summer 2015
Mourinho was forced to sell Blues keeper Petr Cech to Arsenal after being overruled by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
He duly took out his frustration on Wenger, who he blamed for unsettling the goalie.
That led to a move whereby Mourinho tried to turn a straight sale into a bid to prise away two of Arsenal’s top young stars, suggesting he could further their careers.
According to a , Mourinho said: “Mister Wenger wants Cech and he thinks about money… he is wrong!
“What I want is to f*** him… Want Cech? OK, I want [Theo] Walcott or [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain! Want a top goalkeeper? OK, I want a young player, s*** with you but I can make him top.”
December 2005
Where it really all began.
Wenger had blasted Chelsea’s big spending in the transfer window and Mourinho saw red, accusing the Arsenal boss of watching his every move and being obsessed with Chelsea.
He said of Wenger: “He is one of those people who is a voyeur. He likes to watch other people.
“There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families.
“He speaks, speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea.”
Things got worse that month when Mourinho claimed his foe did not acknowledge his message in a Christmas card.
The Portuguese apologised for his “voyeur” slur, but a member of Arsenal’s staff checked if Mourinho had in fact written the card.
In a following match they again refused to shake hands.