Juan Mata's blog_29 Oct 2012 in English

kenary

Cho mọi người dễ hiểu hơn vì giọng văn mình cũng hơi chuối


This team never gives up

This time I’m writing to you from home, just arrived from Stamford Bridge, and obviously disappointed after our defeat. It was a very important match for us, first vs second, and we were eager to win in order to open a gap at the top of the table. Yet we couldn’t make it.

The match started bad for us, conceding two goals in the early minutes (the first one very unlucky), but there was plenty of time to fight back. And we did it. Little by little, with the support of the crowd, we put more and more pressure on United and we managed to tie the game thanks to a very intense start in the second half.
But soon afterwards, when the team’s belief was higher, we had to play with nine men after Torres being unfairly sent off. Yet I prefer to be positive, we were very competitive against a great rival and we fought back with 0-2. Also we keep at the top of the table. It’s still too early, but it’s important to be up there.
But football keeps going, there is no time to look back and this coming Wednesday we are again facing United, again at Stamford Bridge. The Capital One this time. I hope we can win and forget today’s defeat…
Talking about Spanish football now, I managed to watch some interesting matches… Starting with a draw in the Galician derby (Celta-Deportivo). Iván, our physio (from Vigo and a Celta supporter), suffered until the end as if he was in the stadium! It was a very emotional match between two big rivals. I keep thinking that Valerón is great, so skilled, so elegant, and of course his quality of passing… His football has been like that during his whole career. I’ve always liked him a lot.
Following this match, Barcelona scored five in Vallecas against Rayo, who was brave since the beginning, pressing hard. I like those kind of teams. However, when you are facing players like Villa (pure striker, never misses), Cesc (amazing assists), or Messi (what else can we say about him), things are even more difficult. Barcelona keeps in great form. I still remember our semifinal in the last Champions League, suffering a lot and, again,  overcoming the difficulties.
Valencia did not play very good and lost 3 points at Betis, but I keep saying that things will change for good and they will do well this season. Come on, my friends! By the way, I think Rubén Castro is a fantastic striker. Very very good.
On Sunday I only managed to watch a bit of Atlético vs Osasuna and Mallorca vs Real Madrid. Atlético’s results are not surprising any more. Aside from Falcao, some other players are in great shape: Raúl García, Cebolla, Emre… I always say the same about Atleti: how competitive they are!
As well as Barcelona, Real Madrid won 0-5 in Mallorca and showed one more time that they are not going to slow down. Great goals by Cristiano and Higuaín, by the way.
We will finish this week playing in Wales vs Swansea, on Saturday, thus I’ll have more time to write to you… ;-)
Lastly, about my London experience, I recommend Kensington Park Road, in Notting Hill, with nice restaurants and cafes… ;-) I like to go there to switch off!
Hug, Juan.
PS: I take this opportunity to congratulate both Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Márquez for their world titles in MotoGP and Moto2, respectively. They’re great! And I hope Fernando Alonso is able to win as well in Formula One, in my opinion he is undoubtedly the best driver…