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Chelsea's Didier Drogba hails ‘important’ Juan Mata
The Spaniard received praise from the Ivorian forward following their 3-0 Champions League victory over Valencia on Tuesday, which sees the Blues progress to the final 16
Dec 7, 2011 11:40:00 AM
By Jack Breeze
Didier Drogba has hailed fellow Chelsea team-mate Juan Mata, insisting he is a vital player at Stamford Bridge.
The Ivorian striker scored twice in the 3-0 Champions League victory over Valencia on Tuesday, with Mata's precise through-ball to Drogba assisting the former Marseille man as he doubled his tally for the evening.
The result sees the west London side progress to the last 16 of Europe's elite competition, with the 33-year-old reserving praise for the role of Mata.
“Last week I spoke about how good he is and how important he is for the team,” Drogba told Goal.com. “I’ll keep saying it because no matter what, no matter if he doesn’t score, he’s really good and really important for the team, and I think he wears the No. 10 shirt very well.”
Despite a return to form of late, with four goals in his past four games, questions have continued to be raised over Drogba's future at Stamford Bridge, but the forward insists he is still enjoying his football.
"I started late at a high level. I was 25 when I started to play my first Champions League games," he said. "I feel happy, I feel good on the pitch, I'm really enjoying myself, my football. When we're winning like this, I'm really delighted."
Oriol Romeu was picked for Tuesday night’s game, partnering Ramires and Raul Meireles in midfield as Andre Villas-Boas opted not to use Frank Lampard, once again impressing throughout the clash.
“We knew they had a good team with good players, but we played very good,” Romeu said. “We had a big defence and worked hard. We had the mentality and the desire, and step-by-step we won the game.”
The Ivorian striker scored twice in the 3-0 Champions League victory over Valencia on Tuesday, with Mata's precise through-ball to Drogba assisting the former Marseille man as he doubled his tally for the evening.
The result sees the west London side progress to the last 16 of Europe's elite competition, with the 33-year-old reserving praise for the role of Mata.
“Last week I spoke about how good he is and how important he is for the team,” Drogba told Goal.com. “I’ll keep saying it because no matter what, no matter if he doesn’t score, he’s really good and really important for the team, and I think he wears the No. 10 shirt very well.”
Despite a return to form of late, with four goals in his past four games, questions have continued to be raised over Drogba's future at Stamford Bridge, but the forward insists he is still enjoying his football.
"I started late at a high level. I was 25 when I started to play my first Champions League games," he said. "I feel happy, I feel good on the pitch, I'm really enjoying myself, my football. When we're winning like this, I'm really delighted."
Oriol Romeu was picked for Tuesday night’s game, partnering Ramires and Raul Meireles in midfield as Andre Villas-Boas opted not to use Frank Lampard, once again impressing throughout the clash.
“We knew they had a good team with good players, but we played very good,” Romeu said. “We had a big defence and worked hard. We had the mentality and the desire, and step-by-step we won the game.”
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