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The managers briefly locked eyes before being separated.

Sunday saw a spicy match between Premier League soccer clubs Chelsea and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. The match got intense at several points, not only for the players, but for the managers: Thomas Tuchel for Chelsea and Antonio Conte for Tottenham. Ultimately, though, the game ended in a draw at 2-2, and the managers came up to one another for a ceremonial handshake of good sportsmanship.

Onlookers became concerned, however, when the handshake started to drag on, with Tuchel apparently refusing to let go of Conte’s hand because he wouldn’t look at him directly. Before any real conflict could break out, staff and players ran in and separated the men, who walked off peacefully.

Following the game, Tuchel insisted that no hostility was intended, and that the handshake was merely a result of a combination of the intense heat in the stadium and leftover adrenaline from the game.

“It was hot from the temperature and hot between the benches and hot on the field and hot between the spectators – everything that you want and what you hope for in a match like this early in the season,” Tuchel told the BBC.

No holding back from Thomas Tuchel 😲 pic.twitter.com/IHCIQiHsge

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 14, 2022

“There’s no hard feelings. I feel like it was a fair tackle from him [Conte] and a fair tackle from me.

“We did not insult each other, we did not hit each other, we were fighting for our teams and, from my side, there’s absolutely no hard feelings. I’m surprised that we both got a red card for that.”

Even if the handshake did not evolve into a physical altercation, both managers have been red carded, the punishment for which will be decided at a later date.