Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has said that Arsene Wenger's decision to leave the pair's famous battles at Arsenal and Chelsea out of his newly-released autobiography was because the Frenchman "never beat" him.
Mourinho's name isn't mentioned throughout Wenger's new 352-page book with the 70-year-old instead opting to focus on his battles with Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson.
Mourinho and Wenger met as adversaries 26 times with the Portuguese only losing twice and infamously branding the Frenchman, "a specialist in failure" in 2014 due to his inability to win any silverware after 2005, as well as a "voyeur".
Insults were traded and antagonism a regular staple of their bitter rivalry, which started in 2004 when Mourinho arrived at Chelsea from Porto.
When asked why the Spurs boss thought he's been omitted from 'My Life in Red and White', he said: "Because he never beat me."
He continued: "You are not going to do a chapter about 12 or 14 matches and never win one, so why should he speak about me in his book?
"A book is a thing to make you happy, to make you proud," he said. "So, I understand perfectly the situation."
Speaking about the decision, Wenger said: "I wanted it to be a positive book. I had more acrimonious battles with Sir Alex [Ferguson] than Jose Mourinho.
"Whenever we competed it was always a fight, always very tight and nervous and don’t forget we also had to deal with 'Fergie time'.
"But when the competition is over what remains is a deep respect for guys like him, for what they have achieved and how long they stayed in the job and dedicated their lives to it."
Speaking previously about his competition with Wenger, Mourinho said: “I can only speak by myself. I really enjoyed the competition.
"The real respect is always there. He made lots of history in that football club.
“He is one of the best football managers in the history of football," he added.
