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Juan Mata
Manchester United's Juan Mata wants his side to up their game to try and ensure a Champions League spot for next season. Photograph: Rui Vieira/AP
Manchester United's Juan Mata wants his side to up their game to try and ensure a Champions League spot for next season. Photograph: Rui Vieira/AP

Manchester United need winning run for Champions League, says Juan Mata

This article is more than 9 years old
Mata believes a return to form of November and December is crucial for United
Manchester United face tough fight for Champions League place, says player
United are currently fourth in the Premier League
Last League game: Manchester United 4-0 QPR
Mata joins United from Chelsea in January 2014

Juan Mata believes Manchester United’s bid to qualify for the Champions League will be a “fight to the finish”, with the Spaniard insisting that his side needs to win all of their remaining 16 matches given the number of clubs that are good enough to finish in the top four.

Louis van Gaal’s side are currently in fourth place on 40 points and while the gap to second-placed Manchester City, who stand on 47, may prove insurmountable, Southampton on 42, Arsenal on 39, Tottenham Hotspur on 37, West Ham United on 36 and Liverpool on 35, all have realistic chances of securing a Champions League berth.

United’s form has dipped recently however, with only one win in their last four Premier League matches. They face Leicester City at home this Saturday’s and Mata believes that the team have to start a winning run . “It is going to be a fight until the end and not just between two teams, it will be between three, four, five teams,” he said. “This is our main objective for this season, to play Champions league football again because I think this club should always play in the Champions League.

“It’s very important – not just to win the games against your big rivals, but also the weaker teams. If you want to be in the top four at the end of the season, you have to win almost every game. It doesn’t matter if it’s Leicester City or Manchester City. We have to go into the games trying to win. The next six or seven games are very important to get to a crucial moment in the season.”

Mata also admitted that it is tough not being in this season’s European Cup. “It’s difficult, every Tuesday and Wednesday. Watching the games on TV. It’s the thought that we all have in our minds that we need to be back in the Champions League – it’s the most attractive competition in the world. We need to be there again.”

In November and December of last year United won six consecutive league matches and Mata wants to return to that form. “It is very important for us to get back on a good run of results like we had,” he said, adding that it was important to build on their last league win against QPR.

Mata has been at United a year now since his £37.1m transfer from Chelsea. Yet he has not always been a first-choice under Van Gaal, having to compete with Ángel Di María, Wayne Rooney, Marouane Fellaini, Ander Herrera, Adnan Januzaj and others for a place, although this, he noted, does not concern him.

“I guess it has to be difficult for the manager to choose from all the players we have, especially in attack, but I think it is also good for him because he has so many options,” Mata said. “For me personally, I feel very good, I feel very happy and I’m just trying to keep playing as I did and trying to help the team.

The 26-year-old has still managed 20 appearances, however, and is satisfied with his contribution. “I think you have to look at it after the season has gone, to see how many games I play, to see how important I was for the team. But I feel important and I’ve played a lot of games so far, so I’m happy,” he said.

He also had sympathy for his manager who has been questioned recently regarding United’s slow pace of play. “What he is trying is to see the players and put them in the positions for the sake of the team,” said Mata. “Obviously we have a lot of players and it’s difficult for him to figure out how to do it. But we’ve played very good football in some games.

“The way the manager wants to play is attractive for the fans and attractive for the players. I really like it – it’s just a matter of doing it how he wants.”

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