Costa and Conte clashed during the victory at Stamford Bridge, with the Brazil-born Spain striker asking to be taken off in the second half. With Chelsea already 2-0 up, it was originally thought that Costa was concerned with the possibility of a fifth yellow card resulting in a ban for this weekend’s Premier League crunch match against Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United, but that doesn’t appear to be the sole reason.
According to The Telegraph, Chelsea have given Costa a warning over his behaviour in the public eye. Conte can be seen on the touchline berating his players if they drift out of position, and Costa more often than not finds himself on the receiving end of a shellacking from the former Juventus manager.
Costa was spotted calling for a substitution during the second half, but Conte played down the incident afterwards and insisted it was his decision who he substitutes during matches. Costa completed the full 90 minutes, despite the threat of a suspension for this weekend’s return of Mourinho.
The incident triggered flashbacks of Costa’s run-ins with Mourinho during the Portuguese’s second stint as Chelsea manager. Despite winning the Premier League together in 2014/15, the pair fell out and Costa was one of the players accused of not trying hard enough for Mourinho, which eventually ended with Mourinho being sacked and Chelsea ending the season in tenth position.
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The report adds that Conte and Costa exchanged words away from the prying eyes of the public and media, with members of Conte’s backroom staff also warning Costa not to undermine the manager in the future.
Costa infamously clashed with Mourinho during last season’s Champions League victory at Maccabi Tel-Aviv, with Mourinho electing to drop him from the starting line-up for the following Premier League match against Bournemouth – in which Chelsea suffered a 1-0 defeat.
Conte’s reputation for being a passionate and exuberant manager is well known, but he continued to shout at his players even when Chelsea were two goals to the good against a struggling Leicester side. He explained afterwards that it was an attempt to ensure the players kept their foot down, having taken an early lead that left enough time for the reigning champions to fight back.
“I know that, in football when you are winning 2-0, in 10 or 15 minutes you can be losing,” Conte said in his post-match press conference. “For this reason, I always stay [on edge] to maintain the right atmosphere on the pitch for my players.
“It’s very difficult to manage a result in England. Very difficult. Anything can happen right up to the end. For this reason, I pay great attention and want to impress this on my players.”
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