Jose Mourinho

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has started his mind games with Arsenal's Arsene Wenger ahead of the crunch tie between the two sides on Sunday.

The two managers have been at war since the start of Mourinho's spell in England the first time around, and it has continued following his arrival as Chelsea boss last season.

The Portuguese boss labeled the Frenchman a 'specialist in failure' and is refusing to apologise to Wenger, insisting that even he didn't receive an apology from the Gunners boss.

But he also admits that he is not looking for an apology from Wenger and feels that they should move on rather than keep talking about it.

"I don't apologise, he didn't apologise. My feeling is not to go over it – forget it, to move forwards without thinking about what happened. He doesn't need to apologise, so I don't need an apology or to apologise," Mourinho said, as quoted in the Guardian.

"Intelligent football people don't need that, it's finished. Let's go for another match with big responsibilities for both of us."

In what is a first, the Chelsea manager praised Wenger for completing 18 years in charge at the north London club, and believes it's an amazing achievement for both the manager and the club.

"It is an amazing achievement, congratulations to him and the club because it is not just to do with the manager's quality but also the philosophy of the club, so obviously I congratulate both, Arsenal and Mr Wenger," the former Real Madrid boss added.

Mourinho revealed that whatever happens between the two managers, it's always been about Arsenal and Chelsea and nothing personal.

Arsenal had a torrid time when they visited Stamford Bridge last season, with the Blues hammering them 6-0. But Mourinho insists that the past will not have any bearing on Sunday's game.

"But me against Arsène Wenger? I never had the pleasure of playing against him one against one, I've never played him at beach soccer, it's always between Chelsea and Arsenal and Sunday's game is out of context to the past. What happened in the past, happened in the past," Mourinho concluded.