Europa League

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May 15, 2013 at 7.45pm UK

Benfica
1-2
Chelsea

Juan Mata ready for penalty duty

By Liam Power, Reporter | 14 May 2013

Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata vows to volunteer if tomorrow's Europa League final goes to penalties, despite missing his spot kick in last season's Champions League decider.

Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata has declared that he is ready to volunteer if tomorrow night's Europa League final goes to penalties.

Mata missed from the spot in last season's Champions League decider, but the Blues were still able to defeat Bayern Munich thanks to penalty heroics from Petr Cech and Didier Drogba.

The Spanish playmaker has insisted that last year's miss will not enter his head if the showpiece clash with Benfica is decided by a shootout.

He told The Mirror: "If it comes to penalties again, I will have no problems in taking one, despite last year.

"Obviously I wanted to score. Even then, I didn't think it was all over because I had so much confidence in Petr. The important thing is that we won. Thinking back to last season, it was one of the best memories in my life.

"Now we have the chance to win another European trophy, which is hard. It's not easy to play two European finals in a row. So we will try to feel what we felt last season."

Rafael Benitez's side have a pair of injury problems ahead of their trip to Amsterdam, with John Terry and Eden Hazard both doubtful to face the Portuguese giants.