Chelsea Mampu Disingkirkan Spurs dari Empat Besar?
Spurs Out to Crash Chelsea`s Top-Four?
Editor : Heru S Winarno
Translator : Parulian Manalu
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GOL menentukan Juan Mata ke gawang Manchester United pada akhir pekan berarti Chelsea dijamin lolos ke kualifikasi Liga Champions jika mampu mengalahkan tim peringkat kelima Tottenham Hotspur di kandang sendiri pada Rabu.
Pertandingan di Stamford Bridge sempat terlihat akan menjadi penentuan untuk mengisi posisi empat besar sampai Mata mencetak gol dengan tiga menit tersisa di Old Trafford pada Minggu, untuk membuat Chelsea meraih kemenangan berharga 1-0.
Gol pemain Spanyol itu, yang berubah arah karena mengenai Phil Jones, membuat Chelsea unggul tiga angka atas Spurs dan berarti mereka secara virtual mendapat jaminan tampil di Liga Champions musim depan jika mereka mampu mengalahkan rival Londonnya, seperti dilansir Yahoo News!
Kemenangan atas United merupakan pertandingan ke-65 Chelsea musim ini, dengan kualifikasi Liga Champions sebagai taruhan dan final Liga Eropa melawan Benfica masih harus dimainkan, kelelahan akan menghantui kubu Si Biru.
"Tiga angka di sini (di Old Trafford) merupakan hal yang menakjubkan, sebab sekarang kami berada di peringkat ketiga. Jika kami menang melawan Tottenham kami akan berada di Liga Champions," ucapnya terkait pertandingan Minggu.
"Secara mental Anda tidak memiliki waktu untuk memutuskan hubungan. Kami bermain pada Minggu, Rabu, Sabtu, maka secara mental Anda selalu terfokus."
"Kami perlu beristirahat, berlatih, dan bersiap-siap. Kami ingin dan memerlukan kemenangan atas Tottenham."
Seandainya Mata dan rekan-rekan setimnya gagal menaklukkan United, Spurs akan melawat ke London Barat dengan mengetahui bahwa kemenangan akan membawa mereka ke posisi Liga Champions dengan menyingkirkan Chelsea.
JUAN Mata´s decisive strike at Manchester United at the weekend means Chelsea can all but guarantee Champions League qualification by beating fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur at home on Wednesday.
The Stamford Bridge showdown looked destined to be a straight shootout for a top-four place until Mata struck with three minutes remaining at Old Trafford on Sunday to give Chelsea a precious 1-0 victory.
The Spaniard´s goal, via a telling deflection off Phil Jones, lifted Chelsea three points above Spurs and means they will be virtually guaranteed a place in next season´s Champions League if they defeat their London rivals.
The win over United was Chelsea´s 65th game of the season, but with Champions League qualification at stake and a Europa League final against Benfica still to come, Mata says there is simply not enough time for mental fatigue to creep in.
"Three points here (at Old Trafford) is amazing, because now we are in third position. If we win against Tottenham we will be in the Champions League," he said following Sunday´s match.
"Mentally you don´t have time to disconnect. We play Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, so mentally you are always focused.
"We need to rest, to train and get ready. We want and need to win against Tottenham."
Had Mata and his team-mates failed to overcome United, Spurs would have travelled to west London knowing that victory would have taken them into the Champions League places at Chelsea´s expense.
