Jose Mourinho Smart to Announce He'll Start Juan Mata in Champions League

Of all the storylines to open the Premier League season, one of the most puzzling has been Juan Mata's demotion from the starting 11 under new manager Jose Mourinho. Supporters didn't get it. Pundits didn't get it. Heck, it'd be hardly surprising if Mata's teammates didn't get it. 

But perhaps Mourinho is starting to get it, because after Mata was subbed on in the second half of Chelsea's 1-1 draw against Tottenham on Saturday—assisting on the goal and changing the game for his side, down 1-0 when he was subbed on—Mourinho announced he would start on Tuesday in the Champions League.

From Chelsea's official Twitter account:

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to have seen the impact Mata had on the game when he was brought on to start the second half. Heck, you probably don't even need to be a football manager, though the opposing one, Andre Villas-Boas, was quick to credit Mata for the impact he had on the proceedings.

From Miguel Delaney of ESPN:

So Mata will justifiably get his start, having earned it. The question is, what exactly has Mata shown in the last two games that he doesn't always show? 

Did he track back more? It didn't really seem like it. Was he more professional in his approach? Mata has seemingly never been less than the consumate professional. Was he sharper than usual? Nope, he's normally pretty darn sharp on the pitch. Did he buy into the system more? Mata's a world-class No. 10—it's hard to imagine him failing to blend in with most modern systems. 

Or has this entire ordeal simply been a my-way-or-the-highway power play from Mourinho? Does he know something the rest of us have missed? Or does he simply think he knows something the rest of us have missed, presumably because there isn't anything there to miss in the first place? 

Gary Lineker, take it away:

Mata was one of the five best players in the Premier League last season, and certainly the class of Chelsea. Mourinho's treatment of him thus far has been absurd. It's clear he should be a no-brainer first-team selection, and it's just as clear Mourinho has run out of ways to justify doing the opposite. 

Of course, there is another way to look at this ordeal.

Perhaps by handling Mata in such a way, Mourinho was sending a subtle message to all of his attacking options— a deep bunch, to be sure—that no starting spot is guaranteed and standing out when given your opportunities is the only way to stay on the pitch. 

Perhaps Mourinho has created a meritocracy to combat the battle of egos sure to rage at Stamford Bridge, as a few high-priced signings or former starters are sure to be relegated to the bench given Chelsea's depth. If that's the case, it could prove to be a stroke of genius. 

But if that was the plan all along, we should see Mata as a regular fixture in the starting 11 going forward. He's proven whatever he needed to prove, it would seem, and he deserves his start on Tuesday against Steaua Bucharest.

For now, he's triumphed over Mourinho's mind games, or tactical inclinations, or whatever else prompted Mata's early-season place on the bench. It would seem this bizarre storyline, mercifully, has finally come to a close.