Derby for the history books- Mata blog

MATA: A DERBY FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS

Each and every Monday during the season, Manchester United star Juan Mata pens a personal blog. In his latest entry, the Spanish star reflects on a derby that will be talked about forever...

Hi everyone,

Today, I’m writing to you at the end of a Sunday in which, to tell you the truth, the impact of the Manchester derby has not faded out yet. The people you meet are talking about the game (especially if they are United supporters, of course), and almost every conversation is about last Saturday’s comeback.

A derby is a derby. It may sound a cliché, but it’s a special game. So, when you get an away win after being 2-0 down against your rival, who is waiting for the final whistle to celebrate the Premier League title, you can expect people to talk about that for days. It happens in Manchester and in every other city where the fans are so passionate about football.

It’s fair to say that Manchester City will be the deserving winners of the Premier League; the amount of points they have won week after week just made things impossible for the rest of the teams. But this win takes us closer to the second spot, which is our goal right now, and gives us lots of energy for the last month of the competition. If we have a look at the calendar, we can see that there are only five weeks remaining, and then the FA Cup final that we dream to play in.

But the most immediate game in the calendar is against West Brom, next Sunday at Old Trafford. I’m sure the atmosphere will be very positive, so we must take the opportunity to put on a good game and a win for our fans. West Brom are the bottom team and that indicates how important and decisive the game will be for them; they need points. Us, we must show why we are second in the table.

Hugs,

Juan