So we can put the bitterness to bed after Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 in the Community Shield on Sunday. The war of words will now stop, the two managers will shake hands, show some respect for each other and play nice. Right?
No chance.
Last season, Chelsea could barely consider Arsenal as rivals. The Gunners were out of the title race long before Christmas and eventually finished 12 points behind Mourinho’s Premier League champions.
But the feud between Wenger and Mourinho still exploded. It included a touchline bust-up at Stamford Bridge last October and jibes from the Blues boss about Arsenal's "boring" failure to win a title in over a decade.
And their rivalry may reach boiling point over the next nine months if the two teams end up fighting for the title this season.
It is one of the most childish rivalries in football between two respected managers, yet it is so compelling. It is a tale of two coaches who seem to share only the trait of being terrible losers. Everything else, from their football philosophy to their approaches to the media, are polar opposite.
At the final whistle, there was no attempt from either manager to disguise the bad blood between them.
After the Arsenal players had collected their medals, Mourinho stood at the bottom of the Wembley steps and shook each of their hands, only for Wenger to dart behind him at the last minute and avoid having to acknowledge his rival.
It was a turn of foot that one of the Frenchman's players would have been proud of and proof, if we needed any, that a freak 11-year winless spell against Mourinho has got under his skin.
“I believe we are in a job where you have to respect people and respect everybody,” Wenger told reporters in his post-match press conference. “It’s a difficult job but I think it’s vital that managers respect each other.”
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