Mata: United Facing Up To Reality

Juan Mata says Manchester United must face up to the reality of life without the Champions League and target success in the Barclays Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup.

The Spain international acknowledges it is important to respond to the disappointing defeat in Wolfsburg by beating Bournemouth in order to remain among the top places in the domestic division. Three points from the Saturday tea-time clash at The Vitality Stadium would set the Reds up nicely for the busy festive period.

"It's disappointing for us, for the fans and for everyone," he told MUTV. "But we have to move on.

"I played in the Europa League three seasons ago, coming out of the Champions League, and, at the end, we won it [with Chelsea]. So you never know. Obviously, we wanted to carry on in the Champions League but the reality is what it is. We're in the Europa League and we have three different tournaments to fight for and that's what we'll do until the end of the season.

"For myself and for everyone, it's time to give our best, like always, and try to start getting results. We need to do it as soon as possible, which is away to Bournemouth. It's going to be tough but we definitely want to go there and arrive at the stadium feeling that it's going to be a good day.

"We're focused on coming back to Manchester with three points and carrying on with the good run of results in the Premier League."

Meanwhile, Bastian Schweinsteiger has shared his reflections on a difficult week with this post on his official Facebook page: "The last days haven't been easy for us. The UEFA Champions League defeat was extremely disappointing. But we will work even harder to make our fans proud again."