Arsène Wenger has apologised for his sideline disagreement with José Mourinho last weekend but added that he felt provoked by the Portuguese.

The Frenchman, told French television show Téléfoot, said: “They gave too much importance to this story. In hindsight I think I should not have reacted at all, it’s not a way to behave on a football field.

“I always regret any signs of violence and I apologise, but that’s a part of games where everything is manic. And then we have quite a substantial past. Did Mourinho provoke me? That is how I felt. I did not enter Chelsea’s technical area.”

The two managers clashed at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea won 2-0 last Sunday. It is not the first time they have not seen eye to eye and Mourinho last season branded Wenger "a specialist in failure".

Guardian service