League Cup Final: Arsene Wenger last night stoked the simmering relationship between Arsenal and Chelsea by reminding Jose Mourinho that winning the Champions League with Porto in 2004 fails to make him a "great" manager.
The London rivals meet in Sunday's League Cup final at the Millennium Stadium and Wenger has responded to Mourinho's jibe about Arsenal's record in Europe's elite club competition by launching a thinly veiled attack on the Portuguese.
"Plenty of managers have won the Champions League who will not be considered great managers," he said. "What is important is that you look at their careers in 10, 15 or 20 years. What kind of quality have you brought through in your work and on how consistent a level have you done it?
"If you would like to compare every manager you give each one the same amount of resources and say: 'you have that for five years'. After five years you see who has done the most."
Wenger's comments follow Mourinho's claims earlier this week that the Frenchman is a "big example" of someone who is yet to triumph in the Champions League.
The Chelsea manager insisted his own success ensured he had "nothing to prove", adding: "When I did it once I could thank God because I had that privilege."
Although Wenger refused to speak directly about Mourinho, his response offered little doubt who he was talking about.
"We played a whole season unbeaten in 2004-05 but you did not see me jumping on the tables every week," he said. "Winning the Champions League will not change my life."
The resumption of hostilities between the pair is sure to add extra spice to the first ever League Cup final between the teams and follows almost a year of detente.
In 2005 Mourinho accused Wenger of voyeurism, saying, "He's worried about us, he's always talking about us. It's Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea."
It was also claimed that Mourinho had compiled a 120-page dossier on Wenger's comments. Wenger described Mourinho's actions as "out of order" and "disrespectful", before threatening to take legal action.
The protracted transfer of Ashley Cole to Stamford Bridge last summer caused tension. But Wenger, who is still searching for his first victory over Mourinho having drawn three and lost three of their six meetings, feels comparisons with Mourinho are irrelevant.
"I enjoy what I do," he said. "My obsession is not to be compared. I do as well as I can do and I enjoy every minute. What is important for me is that you do what you love in life.
"I've done that my whole life and I'm lucky for that. I have an honest commitment everywhere and after that whether people judge me to be great or small, half great or half small, is down to them."
Chelsea, meanwhile, are anxiously waiting for the results of scans on captain John Terry's injured right ankle as they continue their preparations for Sunday's final.
Terry is out of the showpiece event at Cardiff's Millennium stadium after damaging ankle ligaments in their 1-1 draw with Porto in the first leg of their last 16 knock-out tie.
Chelsea are hoping the damage will not keep him out longer than a few weeks but he also faces a battle to be fit for England's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Andorra at the end of next month.
The only hope for Chelsea is that the damage is not as bad as feared and even Terry appeared relaxed after the game - leaving the ground on crutches with his foot encased in a special protective boot.
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