Kepa Arrizabalaga Chelsea 2018-19Getty Images

Mourinho: Kepa has left Sarri in a fragile situation at Chelsea

Maurizio Sarri has been left in a fragile situation at Chelsea after Kepa Arrizabalaga's act of defiance in their League Cup final defeat against Manchester City, according to Jose Mourinho.

The club's £70 million ($91m) record-breaking signing refused to be substituted for Willy Caballero in extra-time, despite pulling up twice with a physical issue towards the end of the contest.

When his number came up, Kepa reacted by waving away Cabellero and insisting he was fine to continue , which sent Sarri into a fit of rage on the touchline.

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The Blues boss angrily threw down a drinks bottle before storming towards the tunnel, but he ultimately stopped short of leaving the ground in extraordinary scenes at Wembley.

With the scores locked at 0-0, the game was decided on penalty kicks and Kepa failed to cover himself in glory, allowing a tame Sergio Aguero effort to slip under his gloves.

He did manage to save from Leroy Sane thereafter, but City eventually won the shootout 4-3 , with Raheem Sterling thundering home the winner to capitalise on a David Luiz miss.

Mourinho offered his take on the Kepa incident in the wake of the match on DAZN , revealing he has never experienced anything like it as a manager himself.

The former Manchester United and Chelsea coach also admitted he now fears for Sarri's position at Stamford Bridge, as he stated: "Luckily I never had to live through anything like this.

"I think on the one hand the goalkeeper wants to show his personality, his confidence and wants to say 'I'm here, I want to go to penalties and save them, and I am here with the confidence that I will go and do it'. And this is what I like.

"But then I don't really like that he [Kepa] leaves the manager, the coaches and everyone else in a very fragile situation, also including one of his own team-mates who was ready to enter the pitch.

"Eventually we saw how he [Caballero] was thrown into a mess that he wasn't really part of.

"It saddens me because it's a really complicated situation."

Next up for the Blues is a huge Premier League clash against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, before another London derby against Fulham four days later.

Chelsea are currently sixth in the Premier League and three points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, with a game in hand.

Kepa is not expected to face any disciplinary action for his outburst against City, but it remains to be seen whether or not he will retain his place in Sarri's starting line-up against Spurs.

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