Source: Daily_Mail
Fernando Torres: If you don't play in the Champions League it's as if you don't exist
Message from Madrid: Torres with captain's armband at Atletico, his boyhood club[LNB]Back home in Fuenlabrada, the concrete dormitory town on the southside of Madrid, you wonder how Fernando Torres's close circle of friends feel this morning. Blue? [LNB]These are the ones with 'We'll Never Walk Alone' tattooed on their forearms and, while those adolescent marks were made before Torres left Atletico Madrid for Anfield, they held a significance for Torres that he talked up when he joined Liverpool three-and-a-half years ago. [LNB]Torres, Atletico's captain from a young age, was sufficiently sensitive not to copy his friends' bonding gesture but he did accept the phrase being printed on the inside of his captain's armband. It was their secret. The secret got out, and it became part of the process of Torres leaving his first love, Atletico, for his new love, Liverpool. [LNB]Love was a theme Torres warmed to on Merseyside. He loved The Beatles, he loved the city, he loved Anfield, he loved the club. It was as if all you need is love. It had been the same at Atletico Madrid. In a class of 30 at school in Fuenlabrada, Torres recalled how there were 28 Real Madrid fans, one of Espanyol and himself, the lone atletico. 'I didn't care,' said Torres. Supporting Atletico to him was about 'resistance to Real Madrid'. [LNB]'Atletico Madrid are on their own, fighting against the establishment, doing it the hard way. [LNB]'It is the people against the power - it's hard because you don't have constant success to cheer but that's the path I've chosen.' [LNB]The whole Arsenal team cost less than Torres! Arsenal's last Barclays Premier League starting XI beat Wigan 10 days ago 3-0 at the Emirates. It cost ?41.7million.[LNB]Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny came through the youth system, as did Jack Wilshere, Johan Djourou and Cesc Fabregas. [LNB]Wenger paid money for Sami Nasri (?15million), Laurent Koscielny (?9.75m), Theo Walcott (?7m), Bakari Sagna (?6m), Robin Van Persie (?2.75m) and Gael Clichy(?250,000). [LNB]With Fernando Torres costing ?50m, Arsene Wenger would tell you that for that you can buy a complete team and still have ?8.3mchange. [LNB]Liverpool fans will be digesting thosewords with difficulty. Torres joined Atletico aged 11. He made hisdebut at 17 and was captain at 19. He scored 75 times in 173 games. Hewas a talisman to fans as well as their favourite, most effectiveplayer. They loved him; he loved Atletico. [LNB]But set aside emotion and, as Rafa Benitez might say, these are the facts. The Atletico team for which Torres made his debut in May 2001 were in Spain's second division. They were there the next season as well. Once promoted, Atletico did not finish above seventh in Torres' time. As he has said: 'At the age of 23 I still hadn't played in Europe.' [LNB]By 2007, he felt he had 'stagnated'. When Liverpool sanctioned the ?26million purchase of Torres - ?20m plus Luis Garcia and almost twice their previous transfer record paid to Auxerre for France forward Djibril Cisse - he was joining a club who had been in two of the previous three Champions League finals. [LNB]'That was one of the reasons why I wanted to depart Atletico; getting the chance to play in the Champions League was key to me leaving Madrid,' said Torres in his2009 autobiography. [LNB]Torres then developed that notion and, while it may not satisfy Liverpool supporters feeling a sense of betrayal over Chelsea, his words in the next paragraphs must be accepted as part of the explanation for his leaving Liverpool.[LNB] 'If you don't play in the Champions League it's as if you don't exist,' Torres wrote bluntly. 'No matter what you do in your domestic league, it doesn't seem to matter without the Champions League. It's the biggest club competition there is and it's there players really prove their worth.[LNB] 'If you don't play in it, you can't prove how good you are. If you're fighting it out for the Champions League, your status grows. [LNB]Trophy boy: a youthful Torres[LNB]'If you're not, you're going backwards.' [LNB]Torres' first Liverpool goal came against Chelsea. It took him just 72 League games to reach 50 goals, beating a record by an Anfield legend, Albert Stubbins. As Stubbins was the only footballer on the cover of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, Torres should have appreciated the achievement all the more. [LNB]He also played in the Champions League and relished 'a kind of magic in the air'. But that was then. Last season, as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all won their Champions League qualifying groups, Liverpool finished third behind Fiorentina and Lyon. Ten days later they lost at Portsmouth in the League to lie eighth. In Torres' definition, it was as if he didn't exist.[LNB] What chance has love in such circumstances? It had never been consummated with silverware, that was the problem for Torres. [LNB]It was the same at Atletico Madrid. When Torres speaks in Chelsea blue it would probably be best if he refrained from mentioning love or passion or Chopper Harris and addressed the motives of money - he is not alone - medals and his age. He will be 27 in March. He is a changing man and the change will be vivid when Chelsea host Liverpool on Sunday. That fixture computer! [LNB]Torres's signature came too late for him to play in Chelsea's match at Sunderland. There would have been something familiar on Wearside. It was at the Stadium of Light a decade ago that Torres scored Spain's winner against France in the Under 16 European Championship. Fernando Torres had made his first impact in England. [LNB] Martin Keown: Fernando is the spark to lift jaded BluesAndy Carroll sparks outrage among Newcastle fans after ?35m move to LiverpoolMadness! So much for the credit crunch as records tumble on the craziest day in English transfer history LIVE: Deadline day - all the news as the transfer window closesClub-by-club guide to every Premier League transfer deal during January[LNB] Explore more:People: Johan Djourou, Robin Van Persie, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Rafa Benitez, Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas, Laurent Koscielny Places: Liverpool, Madrid, Lyon, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Europe
