Only the best suits Torres
FERNANDO Torres cannot forget the pain and humiliation of going out of the Champions League last year at the group stage. This time he wants no mistakes.
True, Chelsea recovered from their fall from grace to lift the Europa League. But to the £ 50 million Spaniard, that was scant consolation for being consigned to European football’s sideshow.
On Tuesday in Gelsenkirchen, Torres went a long way to putting this season’s previously faltering Champions League campaign fi rmly back on track for Chelsea. His two goals stunned Schalke, helping his side to a comprehensive 3- 0 win and a place at the top of Group E.
Chelsea play Schalke again in a fortnight, then a trip to Basle, followed by group whipping boys Steaua Bucharest at Stamford Bridge. Win those two home games and Jose Mourinho’s side will have booked their ticket to the knockout stages.
Torres said: “The Champions League is what Chelsea has to play in – the Europa League is not a competition we want to win.
“Obviously if it happens and you have to go into the Europa League, you try to win it – but it’s not the trophy all the players here want. We want to win the Champions League again.
“The fi rst step is fi nish top of the group, or second, and after that we’ll see. Sometimes in the Champions League things can depend on the draw. Sometimes you have an easy path until the semi- fi nal or fi nal and sometimes you have to beat the best teams. Let’s go step by step, let’s beat Schalke at home fi rst.”
Chelsea have recovered their poise after the opening- game defeat by Basle, and are now in a commanding position in the group. And Torres has found his mojo, producing one of his best performances in a Chelsea shirt. His good form of earlier in the season had been interrupted by a red card at Tottenham but now, he feels he can go on a run.
“I’m feeling well,” he said. “When you work hard everything comes. Sometimes it takes time, but at the end it will come. “Hopefully this is the start of many games in a row now for me where I can be scoring goals.
“There are lots of important games coming up – starting on Sunday against Manchester City. These are the sort of games that are important if we want to get to the top of the Premier League.
“I’m ready to play if I have to play, ready to help from outside if I have to be on the bench. We need everyone together.”
Torres’ best run of goals in his rollercoaster 33 months as a Chelsea player was seven in six games in December last year, just after his mentor Rafa Benitez had taken over as interim manager. Too often, promising spurts of form have been interrupted by injuries or suspensions.
But he believes that Mourinho’s return to the club this season has given all of the players something extra – something that might make the difference between being also- rans and winning the big prizes.
Torres, who now has four goals this season, all in cup games, said: “This is a young squad, a new manager, a new style of play, new players. It’s not easy to settle quickly. But we are on the way. We’re improving, we’re building, we’re learning.
“We all know Jose. Every team he’s managed gets success and goes on to the last rounds in the competitions they play in.
“He knows how to motivate players. In some of our games we have told him at half- time that we have to improve a lot in the second half. He understands we have experience. On Tuesday we did not play well in the fi rst half, but we discussed it and the second half was much better.
“Jose is no different with me than any other player at Chelsea. What I do know is that he likes people who work. It’s all about work. Work hard and you will get your reward.”