FERNANDO TORRES RUNS THE RULE OVER THE TEAMS HE KNOWS SO WELL

Two sets of clues, two different answers – all on the same grid. Choose one or the other.

He made his name at Atletico Madrid before he won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012, now as the teams meet tonight in the first leg of their last-16 tie, Fernando Torres assesses where it might be won and lost...

the pace of the match. They can both protect the defence but I expect it to be a big battle in midfield between these two.

Whoever can come out on top here could potentially decide the outcome of this game.

JOAO FELIX v KURT ZOUMA

If he is fit, then Felix can have a big part in this game.

This season fans have started to see the player they all knew he could be.

He is capable of special things and these are the sort of nights you want to show it.

Zouma has become an important player for Chelsea and his strength and pace will play a big part in trying to keep him quiet.

JAN OBLAK v TIMO WERNER

Oblak is the best goalkeeper in the world for me and he will not give Chelsea’s attacking players an easy night.

It will be a tough battle for all their strikers but over recent weeks we have seen the Werner that we all saw when he was playing in Germany.

Sometimes as a striker you need a goal on a big occasion to really kick-start things and we all know he has the ability.

LUIS SUAREZ v CESAR AZPILICUETA

Suarez does not look like a player coming to the end of his career at all, he looks like he has a lot of time left at the top.

He is top goalscorer in La Liga and we have seen so many times for Liverpool,

Barcelona and Uruguay he performs on the big occasions.

Azpilicueta has a lot of experience in big games for

Chelsea and

Spain and he’s going to need all of that to keep

Suarez quiet.

v

KOKE N’GOLO KANTE

Both of these players have the ability to dominate games and to sit back and dictate

MARCOS LLORENTE MARCOS ALONSO

v

He is such a versatile player for Madrid he can play midfield, as the second striker but Llorente has been playing out wide and has really added goals to his game this season.

He will try and find space and drag players out of position.

This is another battle where the experience of Alonso is really going to count.

Quizword ACROSS

Rank in the RAF immediately above group captain (3,9) Kylie —, singer and actress who played Kaye Hallin 2018 comedy-drama film Swinging Safari (7)

City in Alentejo, Portugal; a UNESCO World Heritage Site (5) The —, 2000 mystery film starring Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi (4) Heavy woollen cloth with a thick nap named after a town in Antwerp, Belgium (6) Alfred —,

English poet; author of 1940 novel The Last Man (5)

City in southwest

Ohio, US; home of aircraft pioneers the Wright brothers (6)

and 2 Down Ancient city of Latium; birthplace of Romulus and Remus (4,5) Georges —, French author of 1881 novel Serge Panine (5)

21 Capital of Iraq (7)

22 2005 Prix de l’arc de Triomphe winner ridden by Kieren

Fallon (9,3) 6 8 9 10 12 14 15 16 19

DOWN

Long-legged insect also called a daddy-longlegs (5,3) 2 See 16 Across

1

Yellowish-brown hard translucent fossil resin used for jewellery (5)

King of Pherae, Thessaly, who in

Greek mythology is married to Alcestis (7) City in the

South Moravian Region of the

Czech Republic (4) 1998 action film starring

Bruce Willis and

Billy Bob Thornton (10) Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Oscar winner for A Streetcar

Named Desire (4,6) Unit of weight equal to 2,240 pounds (3) Pharaoh of the

Early Dynastic

Period of Egypt whose mother was Merneith (3)

and 14 2010 story collection by Stephen King (4,4,2,5)

See 13 Down Philippine plant related to the banana whose leafstalks are the source of

Manila hemp (5)

Group of Bantu languages of southern Africa including Xhosa and Zulu (5)

20 Naming word such as a common — or proper — (4) 3 4 5 6 7 11 12 13

14 17 18

Crossword ACROSS

Type of orchestra (12) Countries (7) Regretful (5) Hardens (4)

Agile tree-dwelling ape (6)

Bravery award (5) Unduly interested in death (6)

16 Hair from sheep (4)

19 Of the nose (5)

21 Pub doorman (7)

22 Without

warning (3,2,3,4) 6

8 9 10 12

14 15

Solutions in tomorrow’s Daily Mirror

DOWN

Tyrannical ruler (8) Fire a weapon (5) Frozen dew (5) Surface layer of earth (7)

Fibber (4)

Penalty imposed for an offence (10) In general (2,3,5) Traffic light colour (3)

Hiatus (3) Vegetable type (8) One thousand thousands (7) Subside (5)

Female monarch (5)

20 Closed (4) 1 2 3 4

5 6

7 11

12 13 14

17 18

Solutions in tomorrow’s Daily Mirror

Enter the solutions to the clues in their numbered layers of the wall.

Each word must be an anagram of its neighbours, plus or minus one letter.

1 Metal ore

2 Seagoing soldier

3 Colliery worker

4 Frost formed on solid objects

Wrath

Staple food

Something from the past Finger-shaped cream cake Amazing or wonderful event 5 6 7 8 9