LONDON • Chelsea manager Antonio Conte's feud with Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho escalated after his team's goalless draw at second-tier Norwich in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.
Conte and Mourinho have exchanged increasingly bitter barbs over the course of this season and their rivalry reached boiling point over the last week.
Responding to Mourinho talking about Conte in relation to a past match-fixing scandal in Italy, the former Juventus boss said: "We all know him very well. But it's always the same. This is his way. It's not a surprise for me.
"When you try to hurt a person, especially if you know very well the truth of what happens, the court proved my innocence, when you do this it means you are a little man.
"But this is the not the first time. He does this in the past and he continues to do this in the present and, when you are in this way, you will continue to be in this way.
"He wants to try to change his behaviour but you know him very well and the level is very low."
The 48-year-old Italian gave the example of Mourinho's treatment of former Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri.
Mourinho succeeded Ranieri as Blues manager in 2004 and said that the club were never going to win under the Italian, who he said "was considered a loser at Chelsea".
In 2008, the Portuguese said Ranieri, then 55, is "old and he hasn't won anything".
But, when Ranieri was sacked last February after leading the Foxes to the Premier League title, Mourinho wore a shirt with the initials "CR".
"When Ranieri was sacked, he put on a shirt for Ranieri," added Conte. "You are a fake.
"If you want to fight a person, you try to kill this person. And then after two years, you try to help this person, because maybe it's good for you, for your profile."
Conte then suggested that he is ready to strike another figurative blow on Feb 25, when he takes his champions to Old Trafford for a Premier League clash.
"It will be the opportunity in the game against United when we go to Old Trafford. Me and him face to face. I'm ready. I don't know if he's ready," said Conte, whose side on Saturday lacked his attacking instincts and will face a replay against the Championship outfit later this month at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho had triggered the latest bad blood when he was asked about his recent solemn behaviour on the touchline and responded by saying he no longer acts "like a clown" in a comment that was perceived as being aimed at Conte and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
Conte suggested that the United manager may be suffering from "demenza senile" - senile dementia - because he had forgotten his past wild ways on the touchline.
Mourinho hit back after United's 2-0 Cup win over Derby on Friday, saying: "What has never happened to me and will never happen is to be suspended for match-fixing."
The reference to "match-fixing" drew a follow-up question as to whether it was directly aimed at Conte.
The Italian was acquitted of sporting fraud charges in 2016. Prosecutors had requested a six-month suspended sentence following accusations he failed to report episodes of match-fixing while in charge at Serie B side Siena in 2011.
The former Italy manager - who had denied any wrongdoing - served a four-month ban in relation to the affair in 2012.
But, when mention was made of the accusations against Conte, Mourinho said: "Did he? Not me."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
