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Rafael Benitez: 'Juan Mata was best player at Chelsea'

By , Senior Reporter
Rafa Benitez declares that Juan Mata had been Chelsea's best player over the past two years before departing for Manchester United in January.

Former Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez has declared that Juan Mata was the best player at the club.

Mata, who was a mainstay under Benitez at the Blues last season, joined Premier League rivals Manchester United last month for a club-record fee of £37.1m after falling out of favour under Jose Mourinho.

"I am not here to talk about Chelsea," Benitez is quoted as saying by Goal.com ahead of Napoli's Europa League tie against Swansea City. "But Juan was their best player in the last two years. That is it. You can see that. But I am not here to analyse what they did."

Benitez's Napoli are currently third in the Serie A table.

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Christian Benteke of Aston Villa celebrates after scoring a goal to level the scores at 1-1 during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on August 21, 2013
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Fulham125341717018
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle125341313018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham124351519-415
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154
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