Mata Excited But Focused

In his latest weekly blog entry, posted on Monday 20 February, Juan Mata reflects on the win at Blackburn and looks ahead to a big week for the Reds...

Hi everyone,

I’ve just arrived home after the game in Blackburn, where we have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals. It was a tricky game, as we expected, in a good stadium against a good opponent but, thanks to those two nice goals from Marcus and Zlatan, we have made it to the next round of this competition where we are the defending champions.

We were just leaving Ewood Park when we knew through the social networks our rival in the last eight: Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Needless to say, it’s going to be another special game for me. This is, without a doubt, one of the most complicated ties we could have, but we will go there with the big motivation of earning a ticket to Wembley and forget the bad taste of our last visit to Stamford Bridge. But, before that, we have very important games to play.

I won’t lie to you: this week we are all very excited about the first final of the season. I’m talking about the EFL Cup final that we will play next Sunday at Wembley against Southampton. In our last two visits to this special stadium, we won two titles! But it’s also true that the next game is always the most important one, we know that, and in our case we have to remain focused on Saint-Etienne and the Europa League. We did a great job last week with the 3-0 win, but they proved to be a better team than what the score might say. It would be a big mistake for us to take things for granted. When you take things seriously and fight in all competitions, you need to multiply your efforts, be smart and avoid getting distracted. The team is showing that and we want to keep the same way. We are entering the decisive part of the season and we are still fighting to win some of the trophies. As you become a more experienced player, you realise that you must think about the next game only, otherwise it would be a mistake. We’re sure of that.

I’m leaving you now. I hope to tell you very good news next Monday. I hope we can make it to the next round in the Europa League, and celebrate our second title of the season.

Hugs,

Juan

Juan's full blog is available to read on his official website, juanmata8.com.

Credit: Manutd.com