On 21 August 2011, Valencia announced
they had agreed a £23.5 million fee for
the transfer of Mata to Premier League
club Chelsea, subject to a medical.[19]
[20][21] On 24 August 2011, Mata signed
a five-year deal with Chelsea. He
revealed that compatriot Fernando
Torres helped persuade him to move to
Stamford Bridge, saying "Fernando got
me excited about the thought of coming
here. He said it would be good for me
here, and that me and him together
could be good. I also talked to my family
and friends about it as well." [22]
On 26 August 2011, Yossi Benayoun
offered Mata his number 10 shirt. The
Israeli captain said, "I decided to give
Mata the number 10 — his favourite. For
me, it's just a number, not my lucky
15." (Florent Malouda wore number 15
for Chelsea at the time.) Mata wore
number 10 for Valencia and for Spain's
under-21s in the summer, and expressed
his gratitude to Benayoun. "It is a very
important number to me so I'm pleased
to be wearing it. I want to thank Yossi,"
he said.[23] Mata follows on from
Chelsea players Joe Cole , Mark Hughes ,
Ian Hutchinson , and Terry Venables in
adopting the number 10 shirt.Mata made his debut for Chelsea against
Norwich City on 27 August 2011, where
he came on as a 68th minute substitute
for Florent Malouda and scored the
club's third goal in the 11th minute of
stoppage time. Chelsea went on to win
the match 3–1. [25] He started his first
game for his new club in their next
fixture on 10 September away to
Sunderland , helping Chelsea secure a 1–
2 win. [26] On 14 September, Mata made
his UEFA Champions League debut for
Chelsea and netted in stoppage time to
help his side defeat Bayer Leverkusen 2–
0. [27] On 29 October, Mata assisted
Chelsea's 6,000th league goal with an in-
swinging cross which was headed in by
Frank Lampard . In the same game, Mata
scored with a spectacular 25-yard strike
in a 3–5 home defeat to London rivals
Arsenal .[28] On 26 November 2011, Mata
set up the first two goals which were
scored by John Terry and Daniel
Sturridge and also scored the third goal
himself in a 3–0 win against
Wolverhampton Wanderers.[29] He was
awarded the Man of the Match in a 0–3
away win at St James' Park for his
performance against Newcastle United .
[30]
On 6 December 2011, during Chelsea's
decisive Champions League match
against former club Valencia CF, Mata
created two assists for both of Didier
Drogba goals. [31][32] The game ended
in a 3–0 win, which resulted in Chelsea
qualifying first from their group. [33] On
Boxing Day, Mata scored his side's only
goal in a 1–1 draw at Stamford Bridge
against Fulham.[34] Mata scored
Chelsea's first goal of their FA Cup
campaign in a 4–0 win over Portsmouth
at Stamford Bridge.
In the FA Cup Fourth round tie with
Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road,
Mata scored his side's only goal from the
penalty spot in a 0–1 victory. On 5
February 2012, Mata scored an
unstoppable volley against Manchester
United after a beautiful cross from
Spanish teammate Fernando Torres . The
game finished 3–3. [35] On 21 February,
Mata scored his side's only goal in their
1–3 defeat away at Napoli in the first leg
of the Champions League round of 16.
[36]
After the appointment of Roberto Di
Matteo as interim first-team coach, Mata
was played as a central attacking
midfielder rather than being played on
the left wing. Mata scored and had a
penalty saved by Colin Doyle in the FA
Cup 5th round replay against
Birmingham City at St Andrew's , which
Chelsea won 0–2, helping them into the
quarter-finals of the FA Cup . He
continued his trait of scoring in each
round; this run, however, ended against
Leicester City in the quarter-final, which
Chelsea nonetheless won 5–2. On 7 April,
Mata scored his 11th goal of the season
against Wigan Athletic ; it was a vital goal
that gave the Blues a 2–1 victory over the
Latics and kept alive Chelsea's fight for a
Champions League spot. [37] On 15 April,
in Chelsea's 5–1 win against Tottenham
Hotspur in the FA Cup semi-final at
Wembley Stadium, Mata scored a
controversial goal and assisted Ramires
and Florent Malouda for their goals,
adding to his statistics in the 2011–12 FA
Cup with four goals and three assists.
Mata started in both legs of Chelsea's
Champions League semi-final clash with
reigning champions FC Barcelona ,
helping his side to a shocking 3–2 win on
aggregate. [38][39] and set up a final
clash with Bayern Munich on 19 May. [40]
Mata provided two assists to fellow
Spaniard Fernando Torres in the 6–1
thrashing of West London rivals Queens
Park Rangers on 29 April, bringing his
tally to 13 Premier League assists on the
season. [41] Mata assisted the first goal
in the FA Cup final , which Ramires
scored, as Chelsea beat Liverpool 2–1 at
Wembley, with Mata picking up Man of
the Match award.[42][43] On 10 May,
Mata was rewarded for his consistent
form throughout his first Chelsea season
by the fans voting him the club's Player
of the Year, following on from Chelsea
legends such as Dennis Wise and
Gianfranco Zola , whom he had been
compared to on various occasions.[44]
In the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final
against Bayern Munich on 19 May, Mata
assisted Didier Drogba's headed
equalizer from a corner kick in the 88th
minute. The match went on to extra-time
and penalties, with Mata taking Chelsea's
first, which Bayern goalkeeper Manuel
Neuer saved. Chelsea, however, went on
to win 4–3 in the penalty-shootout,
lifting their first Champions League title.
[45] Mata finished his first season at
Stamford Bridge with 573 passes,
creating 66 chances and completing 61
successful crosses, which all contributed
to Chelsea's cup-double winning season.
[46] He finished the Premier League
season with 13 assists — second highest
in the league after Manchester City 's
David Silva — and six goals.
2012–13 season
Juan Mata in action for
Chelsea in 2012.
Juan Mata missed all of Chelsea's pre-
season games as he was playing for
Spain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in
London, but he returned to play in the
2012 FA Community Shield against
Manchester City and was substituted
after 74 minutes for Daniel Sturridge.
Mata assisted his first goal of the season
on 22 September 2012 against Stoke City,
providing a great flick to Ashley Cole,
which turned out to be the winning goal
as Chelsea won 1-0. [47] He scored his
first goal of the season in the 2012-13
Football League Cup third round against
Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the
game finishing 6–0 to Chelsea. [48] Four
days later, he scored his first Premier
League goal of the season, assisting
Fernando Torres for the opener and then
scoring directly from a free-kick in a 2–1
away win against Arsenal at the Emirates
Stadium. [49] Mata scored Chelsea's first
and third goal in the Champions League
as Chelsea beat Nordsjælland 0–4 away
in Farum, Denmark. [50] He later
provided two assists in Chelsea's 4–1
rout of Norwich City, sending Eden
Hazard through on goal and later flicking
a delightful ball for defender Branislav
Ivanović to volley in. [51] In a London
Derby game against Tottenham Hotspur
at White Hart Lane on 20 October, Mata
scored twice and provided an assist for
Daniel Sturridge in a 2–4 victory for
Chelsea, where he also earned Man of
the Match honours. [52] He next scored
in a Premier League match with a
beautiful free kick against Manchester
United . Chelsea, however, lost the match
3–2 after a late controversial goal from
Javier Hernández . Mata went on to win
the Premier League Player of the Month
award for October after scoring three
league goals.[53]
After manager Roberto Di Matteo was
sacked following a 3-0 defeat to Juventus
in the Champions League, Mata scored
the first goal of new, interim manager
Rafael Benítez's reign at Chelsea against
West Ham United , although Chelsea
suffered a 3-1 defeat in this game. [54]
He scored again in Chelsea's win over
Nordsjælland in a Champions League
game, but Chelsea still failed to advance
to the knockouts despite a 6–1 win at
home. [55] He added to his tally of goals
and his collection of fine performance at
Sunderland in a 1–3 Chelsea win. [56]
After this game, Chelsea traveled to
Japan for the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup .
Here, too, Mata continued his top form
by scoring Chelsea's first goal in the
tournament against Monterrey in the
semi-final, helping them on their course
to the final with a 1–3 victory. The
tournament, however, ended in
disappointment as Chelsea were beaten
1–0 by Brazilian club Corinthians in the
final . The team put the defeat behind
them by completing an 8–0 routing of
Aston Villa, a game in which though Mata
did not score a goal, but nevertheless
played a very influential part.[57] On 22
December, he signed a contract
extension with Chelsea which tied him up
with the club until 2018. He was
reportedly offered a salary of around
£100,000 per week. [58] On Boxing Day,
Chelsea traveled to Carrow Road to face
Norwich City, where both Manchester
United and Arsenal had suffered defeats
earlier in the season. Mata scored a
brilliant goal in the 38th minute, taking a
pass from Oscar into his stride and
launching an unstoppable shot into the
goal from 25 yards out. The goal turned
out to be the winner.[59] Then, on 5
January, Mata provided assists for new
acquisition Demba Ba and Branislav
Ivanović to help Chelsea win 1–5 against
Southampton in the 3rd round of the
2012–13 FA Cup .[60] A week later, he
forced an own goal from Jonathan
Walters by putting in a tight corner and
earned a penalty which Frank Lampard
converted. Chelsea went on to win the
game 0–4, which was Stoke's first home
defeat of the season. [61] Mata scored
his eighth goal of the season in the
Premier League against Arsenal in a 2–1
home win. [62]
On 3 March 2013, Mata made his 100th
appearance in all competitions for
Chelsea in a 1–0 win over West
Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge. [63]
On 14 March, Mata scored an opening
goal in Chelsea's Europa League 3–1 (3–
2) win against Steaua București.[64] On
19 April, Mata was nominated for PFA
Players' Player of the Year in recognition
of his contribution to Chelsea's season in
all competitions. The PFA's decision was
based on his "ability to not only create
goals but also score them himself" and
saw him nominated alongside teammate
Eden Hazard.[65] He also netted an 87th
minute winner against Manchester
United, a crucial one for Chelsea's
Champions League qualification hopes.
[66][67] Then, on 15 May, Mata gave
another fine performance in the 2013
UEFA Europa League Final against
Portugal's Benfica, assisting Branislav
Ivanović's injury time winner from a
corner kick.[68] The next day, he was
awarded Chelsea's Player's Player of the
Year award. He modestly gave the credit
to the whole of the squad, saying that,
"he felt proud to play for Chelsea," and
thanked his teammates. He was also
awarded Chelsea's Player of the Year for
the second successive season. On
winning his second award of the night,
he said, "I feel so happy. It's my second
season here and winning the trophy two
years in a row is amazing for me. I just
want to say thank you to all the
supporters and all my teammates." [69]
2013–14 season
Under new Chelsea manager José
Mourinho , Mata fell behind Oscar in the
pecking order as the team's first-choice
playmaker. [70] On 28 September 2013,
Mata came on as a second half substitute
against Tottenham to assist John Terry to
score an equaliser in a 1–1 draw, but his
appearances in the first team have since
remained infrequent. On 29 October
2013, Mata scored his first goal of the
season in a 2–0 League Cup victory at
London rivals Arsenal .[71WE LUV U
OUR MAGICIAN
I CHINO NOISY WILL ALWAYS LUV U
OUR PASS MASTER, OUR MASTERO
2TIMES CHELSEA BEST PLAYER
ASSIST MASTER, GOAL MACHINE
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