'City will be deserving champions'

The blue side of Manchester currently holds a 13-point lead in the title race and whilst United managed to claim a stunning comeback win in Saturday's Manchester derby, it is likely to serve only to delay their City's celebrations, rather than cancel them completely.

Speaking on his official website, Mata showed there are no hard feelings at being beaten to the title by City, instead praising their dominace of the division.

"It's fair to say that Manchester City will be the deserving winners of the Premier League; the amount of points they have won week after week just made things impossible for the rest of the teams.

"But this win takes us closer to the second spot, which is our goal right now, and gives us lots of energy for the last month of the competition. If we have a look at the calendar we can see that there are only five weeks remaining, and then the FA Cup final that we dream to play."

Meanwhile, Mata was also quick to praise the response of the United fans to Saturday's win, saying: "Today I'm writing to you at the end of a Sunday in which, to tell you the truth, the impact of the Manchester derby has not faded out yet. The people you meet are talking about the game (especially if they are United supporters, of course), and almost every conversation is about last Saturday's comeback. A derby is a derby. It may sound as a cliché, but it's a special game.

"So when you get an away win after being 2-0 down against your rival, who is waiting for the final whistle to celebrate the Premier League title, you can expect people to talk about that for days. It happens in Manchester and in every other city where the fans are so passionate about football."