Three Chelsea players have spoken of their excitement ahead of facing Real Madrid in Miami on Wednesday.
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Chelsea play the Spanish side at the Sun Life Stadium in the Guinness International Champions Cup final on Wednesday night, in what is unarguably the club's most prestigious pre-season game so far.
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Among the various sub-plots are of course Jose Mourinho facing his former team, where he spent three years before returning to Stamford Bridge in June, while Juan Mata also looks ahead to a reunion with the club where he began his career.
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Mata started out as a striker with Real, before being allowed to leave for Valencia in 2007 and subsequently arriving in west London four years later.
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'It will be very special for me to play against Real Madrid, a very important team to me in my career,' said the 25-year-old.
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'I hope the fans will enjoy the game in Miami, which I think will be very exciting, and that we can lift the trophy in the final to make them happy.'
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Ashley Cole is looking forward to renewing both rivalries and friendships down in Florida, as he prepares for a first meeting with Real in his illustrious career, after missing Arsenal's Champions League victory at the Bernabeu in 2006 due to injury.
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'It will be great to catch up with Carlo Ancelotti, who is a great guy. We loved working with him at Chelsea and hopefully he can have a good first season in Spain,' said the England defender.
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'Real Madrid will be a huge test for us, they're obviously one of the best teams in the world and I've had some good games with Cristiano Ronaldo down the years, so I hope this will be another exciting match.'
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Eden Hazard is another who is yet to face Los Merengues, and looks forward to testing himself against world-class opposition.
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'It's a big game for me as I'm a young player, and it's very exciting,' said the 22-year-old. 'Real Madrid is a massive club and they have a number of quality players with the likes of Ronaldo and Kaka.
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'This will be the first time I've played against them and it will be a big game, not just for the players but also the fans, and hopefully we can win the match.
I expect an interesting game from both teams. I tip Chelsea to win though...