Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho will come face-to-face for the first time since their bitter war of words erupted last month when Manchester United host Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Tensions had simmered between the pair since Conte s appointment as Mourinho s long-term successor at Stamford Bridge in 2016, with the Portuguese s proximity as a direct rival at United never likely to encourage detente.
Here, we have a look back what both men said and how the row rapidly escalated.
Prelude Defensive teams and Mourinho seasons
Last season s jibes, as Chelsea marched to the Premier League title and United collected the EFL Cup and Europa League to compensate for a sixth-place finish in the top flight, amounted to a sparring, as opposed to an all-out verb…
Mario Balotelli has signed a contract with Serie B club Monza for the remainder of the season.
The 30-year-old Italian striker had been a free agent since his contract with Brescia was terminated following their relegation from Serie A last season.
Balotelli had been training with Serie D side Franciacorta to maintain his fitness and was linked with a surprise move to Championship club Barnsley.
Monza are co-owned by Silvio Berlusconi, who was previously the owner of Milan between 1986 and 2017, where Balotelli also had two spells as a player.
Balotelli began his career with Lumezzane and also played for Milan s city rivals Inter as well as Manchester City, Liverpool, Nice and Marseille.
Benvenuto Mario!
— AC Monza (@ACMonza)
Tammy Abraham continued his fine form by scoring a hat-trick as Chelsea defeated Wolves 5-2 at Molineux on Saturday.
After doubles against Norwich City and Sheffield United, Abraham became the youngest Chelsea player to score a Premier League hat-trick in a brilliant display.
Fikayo Tomori got his first goal for the Blues with an ambitious 25-yard shot that wrong-footed Rui Patricio and swirled into top-left corner, with Abraham making it 3-0 before the break.
Abraham followed his treble with an own goal, while an effort from Patrick Cutrone gave Wolves the faintest of hopes before Mason Mount curled home a fine finish in the 96th minute to cap the win.
3 – Tammy Abraham (21y 347d) has become the youngest ever Chelsea player to score a Premier Leagu…
Monaco star Rony Lopes insists he wants to repay the faith and win titles with the Ligue 1 side, though the former Manchester City attacker refused to rule out a return to the Etihad Stadium in the future.
Lopes has flourished in his first full season at Monaco following a loan spell with Lille, scoring 15 goals in all competitions for Leonardo Jardim s men in 2017-18.
The 22-year-old has established himself in Monaco s XI after Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy and Tiemoue Bakayoko left the Principality team following their shock Ligue 1 success in 2016-17.
But Lopes connection to Premier League champions City runs deep as some of his family still live in Manchester – where the Brazilian-born Portugal international arrived from Benfica in 2011 �…
Outgoing Manchester United caretaker manager Michael Carrick said Cristiano Ronaldo s 800th and 801st career goals were the perfect ending to his time at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo s memorable brace guided United past rivals Arsenal 3-2 in the Premier League on Thursday before Carrick confirmed his departure.
Carrick – who was placed in temporary charge after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s sacking, overseeing wins against Villarreal and Arsenal, and a draw at Chelsea – announced he would not be staying on and serving as a coach under interim boss Ralf Rangnick.
Former United midfielder Carrick, winner of five Premier League titles and a Champions League crown among other honours during his 12 years as a player in Manchester, hailed Ronaldo s performance.
He s not…
Jose Mourinho s Inter made Italian football history when they won a treble of Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League in 2009-10, but it appears that extraordinary achievement did not register quite so resoundingly in Turin.
The Nerazzurri defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 in the final of UEFA s elite club competition at Santiago Bernabeu and remain the last Italian club to lift the European Cup.
Juventus have been unable to add to their two continental crowns, despite having won five successive domestic titles.
And Inter fans are unlikely to be happy with Gianluigi Buffon after the Bianconeri goalkeeper, giving an interview with the Times of India, apparently failed to recall the triumph of Juve s rivals in Madrid six years ago.
Asked if he is happy …
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is still claiming no decision will be made on Joe Hart s future until the end of the season.
England number one Hart moved to Torino on loan in August after falling behind Willy Caballero in the pecking order at the Etihad Stadium and seeing Guardiola bring in Claudio Bravo from Barcelona.
Hart this week told the BBC he feels surplus to requirements at City, while his agent Jonathan Barnett told Sky Sports his future beyond this season had not been discussed with the Premier League club.
Guardiola has refused to be rushed on the futures of six first-team players who are out of contract at the end of the campaign and, speaking ahead of Saturday s FA Cup quarter-final at Middlesbrough, he sounded a similar tone on Hart, whose d…
Whether it s at a football club or any other type of institution, it s always extremely difficult, often bordering on impossible, to replace a figure that stood out as its main pillar of strength and prosperity for a long time.
Nobody can dispute the greatness of Sir Alex Ferguson and the importance of everything he has done for Manchester United between 1986 and 2013. His impressive trophy haul (13 league titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, two Champions Leagues and one Cup Winners Cup) speaks volumes for itself, but one of the most notable accomplishments of the Scotsman at Old Trafford was also his ability to create winning teams year after year, even after parting ways with key players. There is always talk about a manager needing to prove himself in different leagues i…
After a difficult start to 2018-19, Luciano Spalletti believes Inter s stunning comeback against Tottenham will give his side huge self-belief.
The Nerazzurri came into Tuesday s Champions League Group B opener with just one win from their first four Serie A outings of the campaign.
And it looked as though their toils would continue at San Siro as, with five minutes remaining, they trailed 1-0 to Christian Eriksen s deflected effort.
But Mauro Icardi s sensational first-time volley from 20 yards levelled matters, before Matias Vecino nodded in from a corner in the second minute of stoppage time as Inter celebrated their first outing in the competition since 2011-12 with a dramatic turnaround in front of a raucous home following.
53 Christian Eriksen
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Aleksandar Mitrovic is back training with Serbia and out of pain after his foot injury, as his country hope he will be fit to feature against Brazil on Thursday.
Mitrovic scored the goal to send Serbia to the World Cup, heading home in the 90th minute against Portugal in November 2021 to clinch top spot in their qualifying group and an automatic place in Qatar.
But Mitrovic, who has scored 50 goals in 76 games for his country, missed Fulham s final game before joining up with Serbia due to a foot issue.
Serbia head coach Dragan Stojkovic previously joked Mitrovic would go to the World Cup without a leg , and he had a positive update on the striker s fitness ahead of their opener with pre-tournament favourites Brazil in Group G.
Mitrovic has been working …