Juan Mata

Juan Mata became the first Chelsea player since Ruud Gullit to win the club's Player of the Year award in his first season at Stamford Bridge. The diminutive playmaker lit up the Barclays Premier League with his incisive passing and close control, and ended his debut campaign with Champions League and FA Cup winner's medals. A studious and engaging character, Juan becomes our latest blogger on the Chelsea platform as he discusses life in London and the day to day activities of one of Europe's top talents.

Posts by Juan Mata:

THE DECISIVE WEEK HAS ARRIVED

Good feelings. That’s how this week ends and how the next one, the most decisive one of the season, starts. This football year is about to expire and perhaps the best moment is yet to come, as it happened last year. In the next seven days we may conquer a new European title and officially get the ticket to play the next Champions League.

I say ‘good feelings’ because, following our draw against Tottenham on Wednesday, winning at Villa Park was a ‘must-do’ in order not to leave everything pending for the final week. And we did it. Yet without Lampard’s contribution (once again) it would have been impossible. This last Saturday, 11/05/2013, will be remembered in the history of the club as the day when Frank became the all-time top goalscorer for the Blues. And he is a midfielder!

You can read the rest of Juan’s blog here.

PERFECT FINALE TO THE WEEK

It’s not easy to win at Old Trafford. Even though Manchester United celebrated the Premier League title a few days ago it’s very complicated to bring the three points from there, yet we did it. They are a very competitive side, never give up and fight until the end, but we showed that, with hard work and concentration, we can win each of the remaining games and succeed in our goal: to finish third and participate in the next Champions League.

Perhaps the match was not very intense in terms of pace, but since the very first minute we tried to show that it was a final for us; there were chances for both teams, some inaccurate passing, but then came minute 86 with that play started by Ramires and a great pass from Oscar that I was able to finish with that goal to almost clinch the three points.

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TIME FLIES!

I’ve just said goodbye to a very special week for me. In fact, this is my first post being 25 years old. Time flies! I couldn’t have thought about a better way to celebrate it than a victory and the company of my family and friends… and so it was! We managed to beat a competitive Swansea (2-0), a team with some friends of mine like Pablo and Michu.

Three key points in our aim to be in the next Champions League, even more after Arsenal & Tottenham’s draws. And the day ended with a reading of many of your messages of congratulations on the social networks. Your support is amazing! Hundreds and hundreds of messages that will make me cope easier with the fact that I’m getting older… Thank you very much!

Also this Sunday was the gala dinner of the PFA Player of the Year Awards. I wasn’t able to attend, but I feel very proud and grateful about…

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A WEEK WITH TOO MANY EXTRA SECONDS

When the match was about to expire, and those minutes of added time were over, we dropped two points. It’s the most painful way to concede a goal: with no time left to react. The match finished right after that goal. Being so close and not winning is really disappointing after more than 96 minutes of good work by the team, and I say “more” because Liverpool’s second goal came in those extra seconds.

Those three points were very important for us to finish the League third, even more since both Arsenal and Tottenham won, yet we could only get one. After all, playing in Anfield is always very tough, and a game there is very intense. Like yesterday, for instance.

It was not the only stadium we…

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BITTER RETURN TO WEMBLEY

The return to Wembley was not as we expected. As I said in previous posts, coming back to this stadium and enjoying its incredible atmosphere is always a pleasure for me. It was a perfect day to do so: second semi-final of the FA Cup, almost 90,000 spectators and a really nice temperature in London. Our first half wasn’t good, we struggled to find our pace and we were 1-0 down at half time. Yet in the second half, after receiving the second goal, the team fought with pride for the victory until the final whistle.

And we were close, thanks to a great goal from Demba and several chances that were saved by a good Pantilimon. We tried until the very last minute but we couldn’t tie the game, so City will play the big final. As always, the support from our fans in the stadium was amazing. We’re sorry we couldn’t bring you happiness, which is something you deserved…

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