The 25-year-old Mata struggled for game time this season under Jose Mourinho, with Chelsea's manager preferring an attacking midfield trio comprising Brazilian internationals Oscar and Willian and Belgium winger Eden Hazard.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Diego Costa scored twice but could not prevent Chelsea losing their 100 percent Premier League record in a controversial 2-2 draw at Swansea on Sunday.
Didier Deschamps is confident he has prepared his players for any tactical surprises his opposite number Roberto Martinez might spring
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Guus Hiddink is set to take over as Chelsea manager until the end of the season.
It took a great escape in injury time to get there after being two goals down to Japan, but Belgium can now view their quarter-final against Brazil free of the weight of expectation.
Chelsea goalscorer Willian said they must go on the attack against Barcelona at the Nou Camp next month to have any chance of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.
Belgium go into Monday's World Cup last 16 match against Japan full of confidence but wary that relying on individual talent against similarly well-organised but less fancied teams has cost them dear in the past.
England and Belgium face a World Cup conundrum ahead of Thursday's crunch in Kaliningrad
Trailing 1-0 from the semi-final first leg, Chelsea turned the tie on its head with goals by N'Golo Kante and Eden Hazard in the first half but Fernando Llorente struck for Spurs in an enthralling Stamford Bridge duel.
Daryl Janmaat, Gerard Deulofeu and Roberto Pereyra all scored late on in response to Eden Hazard dragging Chelsea back into the game with a curler in the 82nd minute after Tiemoue Bakayoko was sent off for a second booking on the half-hour.
An off-key Liverpool were frustrated for a second successive game by struggling opponents as they were held to a 0-0 Premier League draw at Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Juventus substitute Cristiano Ronaldo was denied a stoppage-time winner by VAR as Udinese came from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw in their thrilling Serie A season opener on Sunday.
Arsenal missed the chance to heighten the congestion at the top of the Premier League and suffered fresh injury blows when a frustrating 1-1 draw at Norwich City failed to take them alongside leaders Manchester City and Leicester City on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur gained a slender advantage in their League Cup semi-final against London rivals Chelsea as Harry Kane's penalty earned them a gritty 1-0 first-leg win.
Premier League leaders Chelsea moved 10 points clear at the top on Sunday despite being held by Burnley in an entertaining game played amid flurries of sleet and snow.
A makeshift England side beat Romania 1-0 in their final Euro 2020 warm-up game, while Belgium's Romelu Lukaku underlined his status as one of the world's top strikers with his 60th international goal to secure a 1-0 win over Croatia.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of Thursday's matches in the English Premier League.
Chelsea rode their luck to emerge with a second win in as many English Premier League games on Wednesday after Branislav Ivanovic escaped a red card and then his marker to head them to a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.
In case they needed it, the short trip to Crystal Palace will re-focus Chelsea's globe-trotting players on matters at home as the Premier League slips back into gear this weekend after the second international break of the season.
Tottenham Hotspur's hopes of a first victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 26 years disappeared as a 2-2 draw left Leicester City celebrating the Premier League title on Monday.
ManchesterCity moved up to third in the Premier League on Saturday while Newcastle United boosted their hopes of survival by coming back from two goals down at Liverpool to draw 2-2 and secure a precious point.
A summary of Sunday's Premier League matches.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Tottenham Hotspur have shown impressive durability in the Premier League lately, but they will need to be at their most steadfast to deny champions and league leaders Manchester City who travel to Wembley on Monday.
Romelu Lukaku's 50th league goal for Everton put them on the way to a deserved 2-0 victory over West Ham United on Sunday, ending a run of four league games without a win. It kept the Merseysiders sixth in the Premier League and West Ham in the bottom five.
Divock Origi's late strike earned Belgium a 1-0 Group H win over Russia at the Maracana Stadium on Sunday to seal a spot in the knockout round of the World Cup.
Brazil midfielder Casemiro stretched Real's advantage right before halftime with a gut-busting run to meet a cross from compatriot Vinicius, but Levante hit back shortly after the interval through former Madrid forward Borja Mayoral.
Much-fancied Belgium fought back from a goal down to score twice in the final 20 minutes and earn a hard-fought 2-1 victory over gutsy Algeria in their World Cup Group H opener on Tuesday.
Such is the level of consistency of Manchester City (nine straight wins) and Liverpool (five straight victories), that it can be easy to lose sight of just how good this title race is.
Rewind five years and Liverpool hosted Chelsea with three games remaining, knowing victory would have left them six points clear and a first league title since 1990 almost secure.
IMAGES from the EPL match played between Chelsea and West Brom at Stamford Bridge in London on Monday
The 24-year-old has scored three league goals already and Shevchenko, who never replicated his superb goalscoring record for AC Milan in three subsequent years at Chelsea, believes there is much more to come from the Spaniard.
Manchester United cemented third spot and moved four points clear of neighbours Manchester City.
Germany defender Nico Schulz scored a late winner as their new-look side snatched a 3-2 win away to the Netherlands in their opening Euro 2020 Group C qualifier on Sunday, an absorbing clash that swung in fortunes from one side to the other.
Chelsea are brimming with confidence and, fortified by a seven-day break, go into Wednesday's Champions League last-16 return match as favourites to knock Paris St Germain out for the second season in a row.
Zinedine Zidane has said his side are in a delicate situation as they prepare to host arch-rivals Barcelona in a La Liga title showdown on Sunday
Defensive errors were again a common occurrence in the Arsenal backline, but Fiorentina failed to take advantage.
