'You’re making me blush here, Juan': when Olmo met Mata

Dani Olmo and Juan Mata go head to head in the Champions League on Tuesday but the pair first got together to talk over Zoom

In one corner, Dani Olmo. In the other, Juan Mata. On the screen and on the pitch. Tomorrow night, Manchester United meet RB Leipzig in the Champions League; now, two of their players meet over Zoom, aware that unless something strange happens in Paris, come 10 o’clock Tuesday only one will remain in the competition, their fate in each other’s hands. “It’s a pity we can’t both go through,” Olmo says. “It’s difficult: we didn’t want to reach the last game in this situation,” Mata says.

The two Spaniards have been talking about playing football for fun, connecting with the child inside, but this is a bit serious for that. “In those final minutes before the match, it’s impossible to avoid the emotion, the nerves, those feelings, the thought: ‘We have to win,’” Mata says. “Well, draw in this case. Truth is, there are elements of professional football that make it harder to enjoy: the demands to get a result, to play well or lose your place, to perform in front of 80,000, not with your friends in front of no one.

Related: Barcelona's league campaign – and maybe an era – looks like it is over | Sid Lowe

Football is an emotional roulette, every three days, short term goals, the pace of life, suffering defeats, facing objectives, and it’s hard to find a role after

Hopefully we can still enjoy this. It will be difficult, it will be close, but we’ll do what we can to win. It’s in our hands

Related: The Guardian footballer of the year 2017: Juan Mata

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