Mata Relishing Benfica And Chelsea Clashes

Each and every Monday during the season, Manchester United star Juan Mata pens a personal blog. In his latest entry, the Spanish maestro reflects on two important wins and the upcoming matches against Benfica and Chelsea...

Hi everyone,

One week later we are back to the victories, just to validate the consistency and strength that the team has shown since the season started. Winning against Swansea in the Carabao Cup and Tottenham in the Premier League, in both cases without conceding, shows what I've been saying on this blog every week: this team can compete. The two wins give us confidence, and the one at Swansea also allow us to move forward in a competition where we are the defending champions. The next game will be against Bristol City in the quarter-finals, in mid-December, so there’s plenty of time now to focus on the other competitions.

For a start, the Champions League. This Tuesday we face Benfica at Old Trafford. We have nine points and they have none, but being overconfident would be a terrible mistake. Benfica is not a minor team, they are one of the classic clubs in Europe and they need to win this game. We are fully motivated, and three points would take us straight into the knock-out stage. Plus, we're playing at Old Trafford, where our crowd created an amazing atmosphere last Saturday. It’s a very important game, there’s no doubt about it. That’s how we see it.

The same can be said about next Sunday’s match. We travel to Stamford Bridge - a place that’s been very important in my career, as you know. That was a few years ago, but my gratitude to all the people at Chelsea for what we had there is still present. Beyond that, playing against the current Premier League champions is a true challenge, one of the toughest games of the season, and we want to show what we are capable of and get the three points. Millions of fans around the world are looking forward to this game. It’s one of the biggest days in the Premier League calendar. I hope you have a nice week, and that our results can help to that ;-).

Hugs,

Juan