Maurizio Sarri urges Chelsea supporters to show more respect to former manager Jose Mourinho

Maurizio Sarri believes Chelsea supporters must show respect to their former manager Jose Mourinho on his returns to Stanford Bridge.

Mourinho returned to west London with Manchester United on Saturday and saw his side denied three points by a 96th-minute Ross Barkley equaliser to earn Chelsea a 2-2 draw.

One of Sarri’s assistants, Marco Ianni, celebrated Barkley’s goal directly in front of Mourinho, sparking a melee between both sets of backroom staff.

The Stamford Bridge crowd predictably looked after their own, chanting “f*** off Mourinho” as the United manager was pulled apart from the fracas.

Mourinho responded after the final whistle by holding three fingers up to the crowd, representing the three Premier League titles he won in his two spells at Stamford Bridge.

Sarri made Ianni apologise to Mourinho for his over-zealous celebrations and believes the United manager is right to expect a degree of respect in west London, given what he achieved at Chelsea.

“Mourinho here has won and so I think that we need to respect him and to respect everybody who has won a trophy for the club,” the Italian said.

On the touch line incident, Sarri added: “I didn’t see anything on the pitch. But after the match, I’ve spoken with Jose and Jose explained what’s happened so immediately I understand that we were on the wrong way of this situation and so I’ve spoken with Jose, spoken with the young member of the staff [Ianni] and we have dealt immediately with the situation.

“I’ve brought the member of staff to Jose to say sorry. I think it’s finished but I want to be sure. We were wrong, we made a mistake,” he added.

The Football Association will review referee Mike Dean’s report on the incident on Monday before taking disciplinary action against Ianni, Mourinho or any other member of staff involved.

Sarri would not be drawn on precedents or potential punishments for Ianni. In 2006, Arsene Wenger and Alan Pardew were charged with improper conduct following a similar touchline spat.

“I don’t want to speak about something that I don’t know very well but we made a mistake, we were wrong and we have to say sorry to Jose,” Sarri said.