Controversial former Chelsea managers Mourinho and Sarri fight for honour and three points at Eternal City

 Stadio Olimpico will host two controversial former Chelsea managers as Jose Mourinho and Maurizio Sarri face off in the Derby della Capitale on Sunday.

There have been numerous ugly clashes between them on and off the field.

This is not only a local derby, but also a battle for position, as only one point separates them going into the weekend, both outside the European qualifying spots.

La Gazzetta dello Sport points out that Mourinho and Sarri are direct opposites on the scale of football philosophy, as while the Special One is all about defending and countering, the Italian prefers his teams to dominate possession and complete hundreds of passes each game.

Their first clash was in England in October 2018, when Mourinho’s Manchester United were leading 2-1 away to Sarri’s Chelsea.

When the Blues equalised in stoppages, one of Sarri’s assistants Marco Ianni ran over to celebrate in Mourinho’s face, infuriating the coach and sparking a melee on the touchline.

Sarri immediately apologised for the behaviour of his staff and tried to calm the situation.

They reunited on either side of the Eternal City in 2022 and immediately started sniping at each other from afar.

Mourinho suggested Lazio “ought to be Scudetto favourites” for spending €39m on the transfer market, so Sarri replied: “I have so much faith in Jose that I say the second place would be a disappointment for his Roma.”

The bitter comments continued before the derby, as Mourinho’s touchline ban was revoked, in Sarri’s view “as a gesture to his career.”

Mourinho persistently pointed out that Lazio benefited from being knocked out of Europe early and only having one game to focus on.

 The trouble continued last week when Sarri suggested Lazio were in the “fight of our lives” against Feyenoord in the Champions League, compared to Roma’s Europa League “friendly” away to Slavia Prague.

Mourinho responded by saying this attitude showed “the difference between a coach who won 26 titles and one who barely won anything. The mentality has to be you play every game and there are no friendlies.”

Neither coach held a press conference before Sunday’s showdown.