Manchester United v Derby County - Carabao Cup Third Round
There isn't much to say about Mata that hasn't been said before. The Spaniard won the UEFA Champions League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Europa League with Chelsea before he was sold by Mourinho to Manchester United. At Old Trafford, he defied the odds by becoming an integral part of the United set up under the very person who had deemed him excessive to requirements at Stamford Bridge.
Mata's brilliance on the field is beyond description; there's a silky smoothness about the way he conducts himself and his abilities are nothing short of magical. Even though he is predominantly an attacking midfielder, Mata has excelled on the right side as well as at Central Midfield for United, where his genius has almost always made up for his lack of speed. Last season, he played 32 times on the right side, and only 5 times in his preferred No. 10 role, but still managed to score 3 goals and register 7 assists. This season, Mata has already scored 3 goals from 13 appearances, even though he has been in the first XI just 7 times. His free-kick against Juventus at Turin in the Champions League, as well as the free kick against Newcastle in the Premier League were both defining moments of United's season, and he is currently ranked 4th among the top 5 Spaniards in the Premier League.
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About the author
Deepungsu Pandit
Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.
Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.
Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.
Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.
Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.
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