马塔周记：努力挣得一张通往温布利的门票

马塔周记，每周一期。有了马塔蜀黍，麻麻再也不用担心我的英语了。

嗨小伙伴们大家好，

在与布莱克本的比赛过后，我才刚刚回到家，我们晋级了足总杯四分之一决赛啦。正如我们预料的一样，这是一场棘手的比赛，我们在一座美丽的球场面对一支优秀的对手，不过多亏了马库斯和兹拉坦的两粒漂亮进球，作为卫冕冠军的我们成功进入了这项赛事的下一轮。正当我们离开埃伍德公园的时候，我们通过社交网站知道了八强的对手：在斯坦福桥对阵切尔西。不用说，这场比赛对我来说将会很特别……毫无疑问这是我们可能遇到最复杂的对手，但是我们会满怀动力地去到那里，努力挣得一张通往温布利的门票，忘记我们上一次做客斯坦福桥的苦涩滋味。但是在那之前，我们还有一场非常重要的比赛要踢……

Hi everyone,

I’ve just arrived home after the game in Blackburn, where we have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals. It was a tricky game, as we expected, in a good stadium against a good opponent, but thanks to those two nice goals from Marcus and Zlatan we have made it to the next round of this competition where we are the defending champions. We were just leaving Ewood Park when we knew through the social networks our rival in the last eight: Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Needless to say, it’s going to be another special game for me… This is without a doubt one of the most complicated ties we could have, but we will go there with the big motivation of earning a ticket to Wembley and forget the bad taste of our last visit to Stamford Bridge. But before that, we have very important games to play…、

我不会对你们说谎：这周我们都对这个赛季的第一场决赛感到非常激动。我谈论的是下周日我们在温布利面对南安普顿的联赛杯决赛。在我们过去两次做客这座特殊的球场时，我们赢得了两座冠军头衔！但是下一场比赛永远是最重要的一场，我们深知这一点，因此我们必须要保持专注于和圣埃蒂安的欧联杯比赛，我们在上一周表现得很出色，3-0取胜，但是尽管如此，对手证明了他们远比比分显示的要强大。如果我们理所当然放松警惕，那就会是一个巨大的错误。当你严肃对待事情，在所有赛事拼搏的时候，你就必须要加倍努力，多长点心，避免分心。球队正展示出了那种态度，而我们想要继续下去。我们进入了这个赛季最关键的阶段，我们依然在争取赢得一些冠军奖杯。作为球员，当你的经验越来越丰富，你会意识到你必须只能考虑下一场比赛，不然的话那就会是一个错误。我们确信这一点。

I won’t lie to you: this week we are all very excited about the first final of the season. I’m talking about the EFL Cup final that we will play next Sunday at Wembley against Southampton. In our last two visits to this special stadium we won two titles! But it’s also true that the next game is always the most important one, we know that, and in our case we have to remain focused on Saint-Etienne and the Europa League. We did a great job last week with the 3-0 win, but they proved to be a better team than what the score might say. It would be a big mistake for us to take things for granted. When you take things seriously and fight in all competitions you need to multiply your efforts, be smart and avoid getting distracted. The team is showing that and we want to keep the same way. We are entering the decisive part of the season and we are still fighting to win some of the trophies. As you become a more experienced player you realise that you must think about the next game only, otherwise it would be a mistake. We’re sure of that.

此外，我从来没有去过圣埃蒂安的主场若弗雷-吉夏尔球场，所以我期待着在我的“马塔地图”再加上一座球场，留下关于它的美好回忆。我希望这一次做客能够让我们在下一轮占得一席之地。从电视上来看，那座球场看上去很不错，你们都知道我喜欢认识新地方，这也多亏了足球。

Besides, I’ve never been to the Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne’s stadium, so I hope to add it to my ‘MataMundi’ and keep good memories of it. I hope this first visit can give us a spot in the next round. On the TV it looks like a nice ground, and you know that I like to know new places thanks to football.

在西班牙，顶级球队这周末都赢下了他们的比赛。莱加内斯在诺坎普拿出了精彩的表现，尽管最后他们没有带走分数。比利亚雷亚尔击败了皇家社会，这场比赛是两支积分榜前列球队之间的较量，他们现在都踢出了更好看的足球。虽然皇家社会输球了，但是他们配得上这个出色赛季的赞誉。还有皇家奥维耶多在西乙迎来了好消息：球队在最后几分钟内对赫塔菲取得了一场重要胜利，保持了连胜态势。我听说塔尔蒂耶雷球场的氛围很棒，希望能够持续到赛季结束，球队能够升级！

In Spain, the top teams won their games this weekend. Leganes had a great performance at the Camp Nou even if they didn’t get any points. Villarreal beat Real Sociedad in a game between the two teams of the top side of the table that are playing better football right now. Despite the defeat, Real Sociedad deserve credit for the great season they’re having. And good news for Real Oviedo in the Second Division: the team keeps the good streak with a very important win against Getafe in the last few minutes. I was told that there was a great atmosphere in the Carlos Tartiere, I hope it lasts until the end of the season and the team can get the promotion!

在足球之外，这周末我们享受了NBA全明星赛，还有西班牙的篮球杯，这是一项非常赏心悦目的赛事。祝贺皇马赢得了冠军。MVP被西班牙球员摘得——不可思议的塞尔吉奥-鲁尔，这位远距离的读秒杀手实在是太神奇了，他赢了许多场比赛。至于扣篮大赛，每一年它都让我惊叹不已。罗宾逊三世和德里克-琼斯展示出了惊人的技艺。不要忘记，除了他们的才华外，场外要下的苦功夫还有许多。

Beyond football, this weekend we have enjoyed the All-Star Game in the NBA and also Spain’s Basketball Cup, a very nice competition to watch. Congratulations to Real Madrid for the title. The MVP was for a Spanish player, magic Sergio Llull, whose long-range buzzer-beaters are insane and win lots of games. As for the slam-dunk contest, it amazes me year after year. Robinson III and Derrick Jones Jr. showed incredible, unreal abilities. Don’t forget that, apart from talent, there’s plenty of hard work behind the scenes.

我现在要和你们说再见了。我希望在下周一的时候给你们带来好消息。希望我们能够晋级欧联杯下一轮，并且庆祝我们这个赛季的第二座奖杯。

I’m leaving you now. I hope to tell you very good news next Monday. I hope we can make it to the next round in the Europa League, and celebrate our second title of the season.

抱抱，

娟儿

马塔落款的签名

Hugs,

Juan