Antonio Conte has branded José Mourinho a “little man” and a “fake” in an astonishing escalation of the verbal war that has broken out between the pair in recent days.

The Chelsea manager, clearly furious at Mourinho’s latest salvo regarding Conte’s ban for failing to report match-fixing while working in Italy, used the majority of his press conference after the 0-0 draw at Norwich to leave no doubt of the contempt in which he holds his Manchester United counterpart.

José Mourinho hits back at Antonio Conte in escalating war of words Read more

In a lengthy and clearly premeditated outburst he also brought up Mourinho’s show of support for the former Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri, appearing to suggest it had been an affectation.

“I think before you make this type of comment, before to hurt another person, you must pay great attention,” Conte said of Mourinho, who had stated the previous day he had never been, and will never be, suspended for match-fixing.

“You show you are a little man. A little man. You don’t know very well [what] is the situation. But I know him very well in the past. In the past he was a little man in many circumstances, is a little man in the present and for sure he will be a little man in the future.

“Also if he wants to try to change his behaviours … but the person’s this, Mourinho’s this. You know him very well. The level is very low. I repeat: I think before to speak you have to know very well what happened.”

Play Video 2:40 José Mourinho fires back at Antonio Conte after criticism – video

Mourinho’s jibe had followed a suggestion from Conte earlier on Friday that the Portuguese was suffering from “demenza senile”. That was in response to an assertion from Mourinho that he did not have to “behave as a clown on the touchline” to demonstrate his passion, seen as a reference to Conte.

At the time Chelsea stressed that Conte had meant “amnesia” rather than the direct English translation of “senile dementia” and he settled on the former when returning to the theme at Carrow Road. “This is not my problem, I consider him a little man,” Conte repeated. “I consider him a man with a very low profile.

“There is a story to speak for him and for me. You can change the story, but you have to know the story very well before hurting another person. In the last period he’s suffering a bit of amnesia. We are there, amnesia. When you become to be older, there is this type of risk. Also for me, and for you – for all. The problem is if you show this. He must pay great attention. He’s doing this with regularity.”

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Conte explained the facts of his four-month suspension while manager of Juventus, which was handed down for allegedly neglecting to inform the authorities of match-fixing offences during an earlier spell in charge of Siena. He was found innocent in May 2016.

His evisceration of Mourinho did not end there and, without prompting, he raised what he saw as the two-faced treatment of Ranieri. “I remember a stupid example with Ranieri,” he said. “When he offended Ranieri for his English. Then when Ranieri was sacked he put on a shirt for Ranieri. You are a fake. I think you have good consideration for a person or not. It doesn’t change your opinion to be more sympathetic. If you want to fight a person, you try to kill this person. And then after two years you try to help this person, because maybe it’s good for you, for your profile.”

That referred to an incident in 2008, during which Mourinho said his Chelsea predecessor had “still struggled to say ‘good morning’ and ‘good afternoon’” during five years in England. After Ranieri was sacked by Leicester last February, Mourinho arrived at a press conference with the letters “CR” emblazoned on his training top.

The rapid intensification of an enmity that has festered for some time could come to a head on 25 February, when Chelsea visit Old Trafford. “It will be the opportunity in the game against United when we go to Old Trafford,” Conte said. “Me and him face to face. I’m ready. I don’t know if he’s ready.”