Begovic claims Chelsea did not rub in Mourinho win

Asmir Begovic insists the Chelsea players have no hard feelings towards former manager Jose Mourinho and claims they took no additional joy from beating his Manchester United side.

Mourinho – a Premier League winner with the Blues in 2005, 2006 and 2015 – visited Stamford Bridge with United for the first time last week, but was humbled 4-0 in a devastating reverse.

There was plenty of attention on Mourinho’s return after his relationship with the Chelsea players reportedly soured prior to his dismissal last season.

Begovic, though, is adamant his team-mates celebrated a fine result rather than the fact they got one over on their old boss.

“It’s difficult,” he said at an Asmir Begovic Foundation event. “We obviously felt a huge amount of joy from the result because we won a game 4-0.

“It wasn’t the fact that we rubbed it in on our previous manager. It’s just the fact that we won a big game, [had a] great result and a great performance, so we’re also very, very happy. That was the main thing for us.”

But Begovic is backing Mourinho to recover from that disappointment, believing the Portuguese remains one of the best coaches around.

“When we lose a game it’s not a nice time and we want him to be successful,” he said.

“I’m sure he’s one of the top managers in the world and everything will work out for him.

“On that day we wanted to win, and that was most important for our fans and ourselves, and that’s what we did.”