Mata Reveals Derby Banter

Each and every Monday during the season, Manchester United star Juan Mata pens a personal blog in which he reflects on his past week both on and off the pitch. In his latest effort, on Monday 5 September, he looks ahead to Spain's World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein and reveals the derby banter with Manchester City pair Nolito and David Silva...

Hi everyone,

This time I’m writing to you from Leon, a beautiful town in Northern Spain close to Asturias, my home. As you know, this Monday we start the qualifying stage for the 2018 World Cup that will take place in Russia and we notice there’s a lot of excitement around, both in the team and amongst the fans. Last Thursday we played a friendly game against Belgium in Brussels and the team left a very good impression. I think we showed character and we put into practice all the ideas that we had been working on before the game. Everything was just perfect.

Many times you ask me about the atmosphere inside the team, both in Manchester United and here. With Spain, for instance, we travelled by train from Madrid to Leon on Sunday and the journey was as usual. Some guys were playing online video games with each other (making fun of everything!), some others were playing cards non-stop, a few here and there watched movies or series, and the rest of the players were either chatting, reading or even having a nap, although these days, if you do so, you are likely to find a picture of yourself fully asleep posted on a team-mate’s social network, so you always have to keep an eye open! And that’s how our journey was.

After the international break, there is a game coming on Saturday that I’m sure many of you are waiting for: the Manchester derby. All of us are fully aware that this is a very special game, yet we have to understand that these are three points and don’t get too crazy. Both teams have started the Premier League well and the expectations are high, as everybody can imagine. David De Gea and me have been joking with Nolito and [David] Silva in the last few days, although the truth is we are now focused on the games with the national team. After that, we will have plenty of time to think about this exciting derby.

Have a nice week.

Hugs!

Juan

Credit: Manutd.com