Friday, 24th January, 2014
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has metaphorically thrown the fixture list at Arsene Wenger in response to the Frenchman's "unfair" cry over selling Juan Mata to Manchester United.
Arsenal boss Wenger's assertion was that Mourinho had waited until Chelsea had completed their league fixtures against the Red Devils before selling Mata.
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The move could then be seen as unfair, as Arsenal are still to play both Manchester United and Chelsea, with Mata potentially proving crucial in the Blues overtaking Wenger's side to the title.
"I think if you want to respect the fairness for everybody exactly the same, that should not happen", was how Wenger summed his position up yesterday.
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However, Mourinho today hit back by claiming Arsenal had the pick of the lot when it came to fixtures, telling a press conference: "Wenger complaining is normal, because he always does that.
"When he says [Mata’s sale] is not fair, what's not fair, is that his team always has the best days to play, always. In the Capital One Cup we had to play 24 hours after, they had 72 hours. That's not fair.
"This week we are without a midweek game, what everybody wants to do is play before so as to have more time to rest before the next week. But one team [Arsenal] plays on Friday, and another one [Chelsea] plays on Sunday. This is not fair.
"And when you take the fixtures during the season it's not fair because they always get the right time to rest, the right time to play. It's fantastic and that's not fair.
"We don't make the rules. we have to do according to rules."
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