Juan Manuel Mata Garcia (born 28 April 1988) is a Spanish international footballer, currently playing for Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea career[]
On 24 August 2011, it was confirmed that Mata had signed for Chelsea, for a fee of £23,500,000. Mata came on as a substitute and scored a goal in the 3-1 victory over Norwich. He made his European debut vs Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League and scored a stoppage time winner in the 2-0 win. The spanish star got a goal and an assist in the 5-3 loss to Arsenal.
On 5 February 2012, Mata scored an unstoppable volley to double the Blues lead vs Manchester United.
Two weeks later he scored Chelsea's only goal in a 3-1 defeat to Napoli.
Mata scored his eleventh Chelsea goal to beat Wigan 2-1 and keep the Blues Champions League hopes alive.
On 15 April 2012, he scored and assisted goals to Ramires and Malouda to send Chelsea into the FA Cup Final with a 5-1 victory over London rivals Tottenham.
Mata's first season with Chelsea ended with 12 goals and 21 assists in just 53 games winning the Champions League and the FA Cup while picking up the club's Player of the Season award.
On 26 September 2012, Mata scored his first goal of the 2012-13 season in a 6-0 League Cup win over Wolves. Just 4 days later, he scored his first Premier League goal, opening the scoring against London rivals Arsenal. Mata scored twice in a 4-0 Champions League win over Nordsjaelland.
On 20 October 2012, he scored twice and provided an assist for Daniel Sturridge in a 4-2 win over Tottenham. In the next league match, Mata netted a stunning free-kick against Manchester United. Chelsea however, ended up on the losing side due to a controversial goal from Javier Hernandez.
Mata was the scorer of Chelsea's first goal under new interim manager Rafael Benitez. Despite opening the scoring, Chelsea once again ended up on the losing side, winding up with a 3-1 defeat to West Ham.
On 3 March 2013, Mata made his 100th appearance for Chelsea in a 1-0 win over West Brom. Less than two weeks later, Mata scored the opening goal in a 3-1 win over Steaua Bucharest. Due to his fine performances in the season, Mata was nominated for the PFA Player of the Year Award.
On 15 May 2013, Mata started in the Europa League Final and played a crucial part in it, assisting Branislav Ivanovic's last minute winner, to make Chelsea the first team to be the holders of both major European trophies at the same time. The next day, he was named Chelsea F.C. Player of the Season for the second year running. Mata finished the season with an extremely impressive 64 appearances, 20 goals and 36 assists.
Honours[]
Chelsea[]
- FA Cup: 1 (2012)
- Champions League: 1 (2012)
- Europa League: 1 (2013)
Individual[]
- Chelsea F.C. Player of the Season: 2 (2012, 2013)
Stats[]
| Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| 2011-12 | 34 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 12 |
| 2012-13 | 35 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 64 | 20 |
| 2013-14 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| Total | 80 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 27 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 132 | 33 |
| Chelsea F.C. – current squad |
|---|
| 1. Caballero • 2. Rudiger • 3. Alonso • 4. Fabregas • 5. Zouma • 6. Rudiger • 7. Kante • 8. Barkley • 9. Morata • 10. Hazard • 11. Pedro • 13. Courtois • 14. Loftus-Cheek • 15. Moses • 16. Kenedy • 17. Musonda • 21. Zappacosta • 22. Willian • 23. Batshuayi • 24. Cahill (C) • 27. Christensen • 28. Azpilicueta • 30. Luiz • 37. Eduardo Manager: Conte |