Media playback is not supported on this device Antonio Conte committed to Chelsea
FA Cup final 2018: Chelsea v Manchester United Date: Saturday, 19 May Time: 17:15 BST Coverage: Live on BBC One (Football Focus at 14:00, live coverage starts from 16.10) and BBC Radio 5 live, and available to stream on the BBC Sport website, app and iPlayer
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte says he will shake Jose Mourinho's hand when his side face Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday.
The two managers have endured a tense relationship during their time in opposing dugouts in the Premier League.
But Conte said on Friday: "Tomorrow I will shake his hand and both of us will think of the game.
"It is not important what happened [previously]. There is a normal relationship between me and him."
A long-running feud stretches back to October 2016, Conte's first season in England, when the Italian upset Mourinho with his celebrations following Chelsea's 4-0 home win over United.
In January, Conte described the Portuguese as "a little man" following a barbed exchange in the media.
Is Conte on his way?
Conte has been tipped to leave Chelsea this summer and when questioned about his future teased the media, declaring: "I can say for sure this will be my last match, this season.
"For me and my players it will be the last game for us. Then, as you know very well, I have a contract and I'm committed to the club."
Mourinho refused to speculate about Conte's future, saying: "Until it's official that Antonio leaves I don't know. Honestly, you ask me if I'm interested in it - I'm just curious about it.
"In relation to the match tomorrow, if it is his last match or if it isn't his last match I don't think it will change at all his approach to the game and his desire to make it through and his desire to win."
Chelsea fans continued to show support for Mourinho just weeks before he was sacked for a second time
Chelsea fans were 'phenomenal' - Mourinho
As well as his relationship with the Chelsea manager, ex-Blues boss Mourinho was also asked whether there was mutual respect with the Chelsea fans.
"The only thing I say in relation to Chelsea supporters is that since my first day in 2004 until my last day when I was sacked a couple of years ago, they were with me unconditionally," said the 55-year-old, who won eight trophies at Stamford Bridge.
"They supported me every day. They supported me every match. They supported me even on the days I was sacked - twice, once in 2008 or something and another one a couple of years ago.
"That I will never forget because they did what I think great supporters do, which is to support their manager unconditionally until the last day.
"In relation to Chelsea supporters, this I don't forget: they were phenomenal."
We deserve the chance to win - Conte
Conte lost last year's Cup final - and the chance to record a double in his first season - with a 2-1 defeat against Arsenal, a game he described as "strange".
This year, his team's defence of the Premier League title resulted in a fifth-place finish, 30 points behind champions Manchester City, and the 48-year-old former Juventus boss said: "We have to fight against a really good team and we want to fight.
"For us this game is very important because we have in a difficult season [the chance] to finish the season with a trophy."
Media playback is not supported on this device Man Utd season 'won't be judged on FA Cup final result'
Season will not be judged on outcome - Mourinho
Mourinho says his team's campaign will not be judged on the outcome of Saturday's final.
United finished second in the Premier League - their highest placing since the 2012-13 season - but will be without silverware this season if they fail to defeat the Blues.
"I'm not going to change my analysis of the season because of one match," Mourinho said.
"You can analyse the way you want to."
The former Chelsea boss has won 12 cup competitions during his club career and, in his first season in charge at Old Trafford, won both the Europa League and League Cup.
"I think the winning mentality doesn't have to do with records or history in finals," he added.
"I honestly think what we did in the past has nothing to do with tomorrow and the records don't matter. What matters is 11 against 11 and everybody trying to give their best."
Contests between the two finalists have been tight in recent years with only three or more goals scored on three occasions in the past 13 meetings.
When asked whether Saturday's match will be an open game, Mourinho said: "I still don't understand these words of 'entertaining'. You think 6-0 is entertaining? I don't think so."
Analysis - are both managers being negative?
Jermaine Jenas, BBC Radio 5 live:
"In Antonio Conte, I have seen and listened to a manager who has pretty much complained from the very first game of the season to the last day about his squad.
"That will have a negative effect because you are one of those players and he's saying you are not good enough. Not directly but by the complaints he's saying that.
"Jose Mourinho is saying certain things to players publicly. Maybe these players are actually starting to feel 'you're not the guy who is going get me motivated anymore'.
"There's a difference between application and mentality, and you looking at your manager and thinking 'you're annoying me a little bit in terms of the comments you are making about me, I don't feel like you are supporting me anymore'."
The big day is here! No, it's not the Royal wedding we're getting excited about here - it's FA Cup final day!
You'll find everything you need to know about the game on this page. Enjoy!
What is it?
It is the 2018 FA Cup final at Wembley, the 12th at the new stadium.
Manchester United will take on Chelsea, who are looking to complete an FA Cup double after their women's team beat Arsenal.
When is it?
It is this weekend. Saturday May 19, the same day as the Royal Wedding.
What time is kick-off?
Kick-off is scheduled for 5:15pm, a slightly earlier start time than last year's final between Chelsea and Arsenal, which kicked-off at 5.30pm.
What TV channel is it on?
BT Sport and BBC have shared FA Cup coverage this season, and you will be able to watch the final via both broadcasters.
Alternatively, you can follow all the build up and live action with our Telegraph Sport live blog.
Manchester United midfielder has struggled for an automatic place in the first team but he scored the winner in the semi-final and is keen to continue in that vein
Ander Herrera has a self-possession that allows rare honesty when he is asked how Manchester City’s runaway title win and Liverpool potentially being European champions heightens Manchester United’s need to win the FA Cup final against Chelsea.
Sitting upstairs in the academy building at the club’s Carrington base, the midfielder is an articulate speaker on a range of subjects. United finished second to City but, unless Chelsea are defeated at Wembley on Saturday, José Mourinho’s side will end the season without a trophy. The nightmare scenario is City’s 19-point Premier League success being followed by Liverpool claiming a sixth European Cup next Saturday by defeating Real Madrid.
Ander Herrera pays up contract and signs for Manchester United Read more
“If any player in the world tells you he doesn’t care about what the opponents do, he is lying,” Herrera says. “But I don’t go crazy with that. Last season we won three trophies [counting the Community Shield], this season we can still win one – it’s a 50-50 possibility. But I cannot lie to you. If I can choose at the beginning of the season who wins the Premier League and who wins the Champions League – if we couldn’t be champions – I wouldn’t tell you Manchester City and Liverpool.”
Two years ago United won a 12th FA Cup and first since 2004 with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace. Herrera was an unused substitute for Louis van Gaal that day. “Of course when you play you feel more happy but I was still very happy for the team,” the Spaniard says. “It was my first title in England and I knew we were building something good – I said that after the game. And I was right because the next season we won three trophies and this season we are fighting for another.”
Herrera’s spell at United has featured an almost constant fight for a starting place. When named by Mourinho in the XI for the 3-2 derby win at the Etihad in April that was his first league start for four months, though he was injured for some of the period. After a fine display Herrera has started seven of their last eight matches, including the semi-final against Tottenham, in which he scored the winner.
“When I don’t play, of course I am not happy, but I am also very happy with myself because I give everything, every day, every minute, to be on the pitch,” he says. “If I am on the pitch I’m very calm because I know I’ve done everything to be there. That’s the way to be and the way I’ll feel until the last day of my career.”
Herrera, 28, is calm when assessing Mourinho’s management style. “I don’t think if you don’t take your chance it’s the last chance you have in the season,” says the Spaniard, who has made 38 appearances this term and scored twice. “I don’t go crazy when I don’t have my best game and say: ‘Oof, I’ve lost my chance, I’m not going to play again.’
“I know some of my team-mates, and some footballers, are up and down. If I play well I’m not very happy and if I play badly I’m not very sad. My age and experience has helped me keep that balance. If you work hard and respect the ones who are playing at that moment but try to give everything you have, whether that’s five minutes or 30 minutes, sooner or later football is fair. I really believe that.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest José Mourinho has words with Ander Herrera on the touchline during the FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham and in which the Spaniard scored a rare and precious goal, the winner. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images
Herrera also offers advice to Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, who were criticised and dropped by Mourinho following the loss at Brighton two weeks ago. “I don’t like to talk about what other players think because, as we say in Spanish, every person is a world, their own world.
“What I can say about them is that they are maybe two of the 20 most talented players in the world. If I could give them advice it’s if you work, then sooner or later football gives back what you have given.”
In an FA Cup tie against Chelsea in March last year Herrera impressed when man‑marking Eden Hazard before being sent off after 35 minutes for a second yellow card. He did that job again in the league fixture a month later and was again effective against Chelsea’s best player as United won 2-0 and he scored the second. When discussing how he took the initiative that day, Herrera illustrates why he was talked of as a potential successor to Wayne Rooney as captain.
“I was telling Marcus, Jesse [Lingard], Paul [Pogba] and [Marouane] Fellaini, who were in front of me, that all the time the more difficult the ball that comes in to Hazard, the easier the job is for me,” he says. “This is not about one player. I have to do my job but football is 11 players. If one player gets free with the ball and Hazard is with me, I’m dead. That guy has to have one of my team-mates on him, making it difficult.”
Of the red card in the Cup meeting, Herrera says: “I was never going to hurt the opponent – one of the yellow cards was near the bench; they were not going to score a goal.”
Despite United’s 81 points in second place being a record deficit to the 100 of City, Herrera is optimistic United can overhaul them next year. “Next season I think the champion can be with 85 or 86 points,” he says.
“This season was an exception – it’s not normal that City have won [so many] games in the last minutes – I remember West Ham at home, Huddersfield away, Southampton, Bournemouth. If they draw all those games, maybe the champions would be six or seven points less.”
Regarding what the long term may hold for him, Herrera says: “My future is the Cup final. I want to be here next season and unless the club sack me, I will be here in pre-season and fight to keep adding games to my total. In football, what today is black is tomorrow white.
“So if you think about what can happen in the summer, maybe the club signs four midfielders and they don’t want me any more. The only thing I can do is train good today and train good tomorrow. That’s all I can say – and of course if the club wants to talk to me [to extend my contract, which runs out in June 2019] I will listen to them because I am happy here.”
Helping United lift the FA Cup with a defeat of Chelsea would make Herrera even more content.
(CNN) Millions will be watching around the world and fans dressed in red, white and blue will travel for miles to witness the special occasion. Without doubt, they will raucously cheer their heroes.
But these hardcore supporters will care little about what is happening in Windsor, the scene of a certain royal wedding.
For new arrivals on this planet, Prince Harry -- sixth in line to the British throne -- is to marry American actress Meghan Markle on Saturday. It's to be quite the thing by all accounts -- a $1.4 million extravaganza which an estimated two billion people will watch.
But 20 miles east of Windsor, in Wembley, another cherished British institution will be celebrated on the same day -- the FA Cup, the world's oldest national football competition.
Manchester United fans cheer their team in the FA Cup semifinal.
Hours after Harry and Meghan (a couple the world is now on first name terms with) tie the knot, Manchester United and Chelsea will hope to seal their season with a trophy.
Even in the absence of Prince William, who usually attends the final as president of the Football Association -- English football's governing body -- Wembley will arguably be a more regal affair than Windsor as a King, or perhaps Kings, will almost certainly be crowned.
Score the winning goal in an FA Cup final, or produce a man-of-the-match performance, and yours is a different destiny.
Manchester United last won the FA Cup in 2014
Much like the British monarchy, the FA Cup has endured troubled times -- United did not take part in the competition in 2000, for example -- and questions over its relevancy in a modern world is a constant.
But on a big occasion such as Saturday, talk about the decline of a nation's favorite knockout competition will be put on hold and its place in British society celebrated.
Though the riches and the glamor of the English Premier League and the Champions League has, in the eyes of many, diminished the luster of the competition, for the teams taking part on Saturday -- and for their millions of fans -- the FA Cup matters.
As former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov told CNN Sport this week: "You will see when they win it the joy, the satisfaction that they've won something. Everything matters."
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But unlike the royal wedding -- which takes place just over five hours before the Wembley kickoff -- this FA Cup final will not be a cultural milestone or a modern fairytale. It is a battle between two English footballing aristocrats.
United, one of the world's richest clubs and English football's most successful team, will take on Chelsea, seven-time winners of the competition and a club owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
As with all good season-ending finales, or modern Royal Weddings, there will be twists, sub-plots and potential flare-ups.
Mourinho and Conte were embroiled in a nasty feud in January
Much has already been written this season about the animosity between United manager Jose Mourinho and Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.
In January, Conte labeled his Portuguese rival a "little man" and a "fake," while Mourinho aimed low by bringing up the match-fixing case in which the Italian was exonerated after an investigation.
The Chelsea manager, 48, said he would "not forget" Mourinho's words, though the Portuguese said this week that the feud between the pair ended after a face-to-face meeting at Old Trafford in February.
Nevertheless, when the pressure is on and both are barking orders to their teams from the sidelines who knows what could happen.
Adding to the intrigue is Conte's future as Chelsea manager. Many expect this match to be the Italian's swansong for the Blues -- even if he guides his team to victory.
Last year's Premier League champions finished fifth in the league this season, consequently failing to qualify for the lucrative Champions League. It has been a difficult campaign for Conte and his team following his title-winning debut as Chelsea boss.
Mourinho has enjoyed a relatively more fruitful campaign as United finished second in the league.
Victory on Saturday would earn United a record-equalling 13th FA Cup trophy and secure a third major piece of silverware under Mourinho.
There will be a loser at Wembley and hearts will be broken, which is why the saccharine of a royal wedding and the unpredictability of an FA Cup final, two treasured British events, are the perfect combination rather than an antidote.
Best watched back-to-back to form what is being billed as the biggest TV day of the year in Britain.
