Manchester United’s Juan Mata says his side must approach each of their final seven games as if they were cup finals after their win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford vaulted them into third, according to The Mirror.
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Louis van Gaal’s Red Devils are currently on a run of five consecutive wins, which has given rise to talk of a late title charge for the side which finished seventh under David Moyes last season.
Chelsea currently sit seven points clear of second placed Arsenal, having played one game fewer than the chasing pack, meaning it is extremely unlikely for anyone to catch them. That said, Manchester United players are intent on finishing as high up the table as possible according to Mata.
He said, “The season has gone so quickly – it seems we were in pre-season only a few months ago. But we still have some finals left before the end.
“We want to finish as high as we can and I think we can win a lot of games between now and the end of the season if we perform like we did in the last few games.
“We are facing two or three very big rivals like Chelsea, City and Arsenal so we need to be at our best level to beat them.”
The Spanish attacker has finally been given a prolonged run in the first team, scoring a spectacular goal against Liverpool at Anfield to help his side to an impressive 2-1 victory.
The former Chelsea man says the team are entirely focused on recording a win against another rival, in Manchester City, when they come to the red half of Manchester to play at Old Trafford.
“Each game is a final and we have to think about each one on their own.
“So now we are thinking about Sunday [against City] and then we will think about the next one.
“Every point is very important from now until the end and we will look at every game as a final.”