Manchester United started their CL group stage campaign with a defeat against PSV but bounced back last night to beat Wolfsburg.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the best player on the field was none other than Juan Mata. The Spanish international was the architect of almost every attacking move for the Red Devils against the German opposition.
The former Chelsea and Valencia superstar won United the penalty and stepped up to equalize for the home side.
In the second half, the La Roja star then set up the second goal for defender Chris Smalling to earn United crucial three points in the Champions League.
Manager Louis van Gaal really should have praised the performance of Juan Mata against Wolfsburg but instead he focused on criticizing the versatile attacker by claiming that he could have done better (ESPN).
Van Gaal was mainly asked if Mata is one of the best playmakers in the continent and instead of agreeing to that point, the Dutch coach claimed
“I have seen Mata playing better than today,”
“So I can say as a manager he played very well and that I agree with you, but I don’t agree with you.”
Juan Mata is a world class player, not just one of the best attackers in Europe but in the world and he deserved every bit of praise of his performance against Wolfsburg.
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Mata is the man, but Martial was the best on the pitch for me, he constantly shifted to the right to bring Mata in the middle and that was the key to our victory. Martial and Mata keep shinning, while Memphis and Rooney are just wasteful on the ball.