Mata Excited By Champions League Return

Each and every Monday during the season, Manchester United star Juan Mata pens a personal blog. In his latest entry, the Spanish star looks forward to returning to Champions League football...

Hi everyone,

A very special week is starting this Monday. The group stage of the Champions League kicks off and we are back there, with the best teams in Europe, the place where Manchester United should always be.

We missed it a little bit last season – although we made the most of our year in the Europa League with that night in Stockholm – and, now, it’s time to compete at the highest level. We will need to tackle the difficulties that playing in four competitions imply, and prove that we have a deep squad full of skilled and motivated players. There are a lot of games scheduled for this month and we will need the help of every single player in order to win as many games as possible.

Last Saturday, we let two points slip away from us, the first two in the Premier League, in the (always) tough visit to Stoke. We have to give credit to the opponent because they made things very difficult for us, as they do every year, by reducing spaces and also attacking with danger; however, we showed character and, in the last few minutes, we really felt that the victory was close.

Besides, it was my 150th game with United, something I’m very proud of, and I hope I can play many more! As I said, we couldn’t celebrate it with the three points but the team morale is still very good ahead of the game this coming Tuesday. We’re still on top of the table with 10 points out of 12, which is not bad.

Now it’s time to focus on the Champions League, which is back at Old Trafford. We’re really looking forward to listening again to that nice music before the game, and we’re sure the atmosphere in the stadium is going to be amazing, as it always is during the big European nights.

We play against Basel, who won the last league in Switzerland with authority. They did play in the Champions League last season and it would be a big mistake to under-estimate them. I’ve already played against them in the past and I suffered their carefree, offensive football style.

We have to be focused because it would be very important to start with a win, even more considering that we have to play Everton, a tough opponent, on the weekend. They’ve just suffered a tough defeat against Tottenham, but they have made very good signings and, of course, they have a player like Wayne Rooney. I hope Old Trafford will welcome him as he deserves. It will be weird to see Wayne playing with a different shirt, to be honest, but this is the decision he made last summer and we wish him the best of luck.

Have a nice week. Hugs,

Juan.