Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger 'refused' to let Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho sit next to him
The pair were attended a Uefa coaching conference in Nyon alongside other top European bosses
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Your support makes all the difference.Hostilities between Arsène Wenger and Jose Mourinho look set to continue after the Arsenal manager refused to let his Manchester United counterpart sit next to him at a Uefa coaching conference.
The pair attended the meeting in Nyon with several other top European coaches on the recent transfer deadline day, which began with a speech by Sir Alex Ferguson.
According to Marca, Mourinho arrived slightly late and was the last to enter the busy room where Ferguson was speaking.
When he spotted a free seat next to Wenger, opposite Unai Emery, the Paris Saint-Germain manager, and Zinedine Zidane, the Real Madrid head coach, he asked whether he could occupy it.
Wenger is said to have then deadpanned: “No, it isn't possible,” provoking laughs from the other coaches in the room.
The incident is the latest in the pair’s long-standing spat, which dates back to Mourinho’s first spell in English football at Chelsea.
Mourinho, often characterised as the aggressor in the feud, infamously labelled Wenger as a ‘voyeur’ in October 2005, in response to critcism over his side's defensive tactics.
During Mourinho’s second spell at Chelsea, in February 2014, he described Wenger as a “specialist in failure” after the Arsenal manager intimated that he was afraid of losing.
The two then came to physical blows eight months later when Wenger shoved Mourinho while arguing with him on the touchline at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho appeared to aim a dig at Wenger in his first press conference after his appointment at United earlier this year.
“There are some managers, the last time they won a title was 10 years ago, the last time I won was a year ago," he said.
“I feel I have to prove - not to the others - to myself. I will never be able to work without success. That’s my nature.
“If I have something to prove, imagine the others! To finish 4th is not the aim.”
United will meet Arsenal for the first time this season at Old Trafford on 19 November.
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