Antonio Conte Explains Why He Didn’t Shake Jose Mourinho’s Hand At the Final Whistle

The Manchester United manager’s difficult month, which started with a goalless draw away to Liverpool, and saw his team lose ground on Manchester City at the top of the table, was completed with a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.

On Sunday:

Mourinho lost at Stamford Bridge – a defeat that has to hurt more than most he’ll experience this season.He lost to his old team, who sacked him almost two years ago.Alvaro Morata, the goalscorer, was linked with a move to United before he joined Chelsea. Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaku had another difficult day.Mourinho’s team conceded to a goal which will drive him mad, as Morata was unmarked when he powered a header past David de Gea.United are now eight points behind City, who won 3-1 at home to Arsenal earlier in the day.To top off his crappy day, Mourinho was snubbed for the customary post-match managerial handshake with Antonio Conte.

The United manager even waited to shake Conte’s hand, but the Chelsea manager wasn’t interested.

Conte has been under a lot of pressure recently, especially so after Chelsea’s crushing 3-0 defeat to Roma in the Champions League during the week. Given how frequent Chelsea change managers, and murmurings around the club, few expect Conte to be at Stamford Bridge next season. However, while he’s there, he’s going to celebrate every victory in his animated manner – particularly when Chelsea beat a top six rival in a tense game.

So, one could forgive Conte for wanting to celebrate with the Chelsea fans and his players immediately following the final whistle. Yet, the Chelsea manager snubbed Mourinho, who stood looking on as the Italian milked the applause from the crowd. There’s bad blood between the pair and they’ve exchanged verbal shots at each other over the past year. But managers often put aside their differences to shake hands at the final whistle.

However, the Chelsea manager just wasn’t interested, and said it’s “not important” to shake the hand of the opposition manager following a match. He also seemed to suggest that he doesn’t respect Mourinho.

“It’s not important. It’s important to win the game. You have to have the respect on the pitch, not outside the pitch,” Conte told Sky Sports.

Mourinho said that Conte “disappeared” at the final whistle.

“He disappeared. I shook the hand of his assistant which is basically the same thing.”

Being snubbed by Conte is the least of Mourinho’s troubles following Sunday’s defeat, but it did manage to complete his tough afternoon and difficult month.

Otherwise, Jose offered no excuses in his post-match interview. He claimed that Chelsea scored in the only part of the game where they were in control and admitted that his team could have defended better for the goal.

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