Fernando Torres is relishing the chance to ride to Rafa Benitez's rescue tonight in their massive Champions League clash with Inter Milan and admits: "This is why I signed for Liverpool."
With pressure mounting on compatriot and manager Benitez following Saturday's embarrassing FA Cup exit to Barnsley, Torres is ready to shoulder the goalscoring responsibility.
Despite his reputation as one of the world's top strikers, the Spaniard has never played in the last 16 of the Champions League and is up for the task.
Torres said: "This is a very big game for the fans and for us. I came here to play in this type of game, in the Champions League and in other competitions.
"Inter Milan are a very good team but I think we can beat them. Why not?
"That is another reason why I came to Liverpool, to work with the manager, and I have learned a lot from him since I joined.
"Reaching two Champions League Finals in three years is an incredible achievement.
"It takes something special to do that and you don't do that unless you have a very good manager.
He added: "We have an opportunity to get an important win. The supporters, the players, the staff at Liverpool are like a big family.
"It is a different mentality to most other clubs and we need to play like a team tonight.
"Big teams win the important games and we are a big team. After losing to Marseille at home we knew we had to beat Porto at home and then win in Marseille and in both games we played really, really well.
"We scored four goals against Porto and four against Marseille. This is what Liverpool can do and we need to do it again in a big game against Inter Milan.
"We were third in our group, we needed to win our games and we did. I also saw Liverpool beat Barcelona in the Champions League last season. That was also a big game, Liverpool played very, very well and got a great result. To win 2-1 away at Barcelona is a big result.
"They were the best team in the world when it comes to ability because they have so many great players but Liverpool played like a team and if you play like a team you can win every game against every team. If we play like a team tonight then we can win, for sure.
"I think this tie is a bit different though because the first game is at Anfield in front of our own fans.
"But it is important to get a similar result because of our position in the league and because we are out of both cups."
With pressure mounting on compatriot and manager Benitez following Saturday's embarrassing FA Cup exit to Barnsley, Torres is ready to shoulder the goalscoring responsibility.
Despite his reputation as one of the world's top strikers, the Spaniard has never played in the last 16 of the Champions League and is up for the task.
Torres said: "This is a very big game for the fans and for us. I came here to play in this type of game, in the Champions League and in other competitions.
"Inter Milan are a very good team but I think we can beat them. Why not?
"That is another reason why I came to Liverpool, to work with the manager, and I have learned a lot from him since I joined.
"Reaching two Champions League Finals in three years is an incredible achievement.
"It takes something special to do that and you don't do that unless you have a very good manager.
He added: "We have an opportunity to get an important win. The supporters, the players, the staff at Liverpool are like a big family.
"It is a different mentality to most other clubs and we need to play like a team tonight.
"Big teams win the important games and we are a big team. After losing to Marseille at home we knew we had to beat Porto at home and then win in Marseille and in both games we played really, really well.
"We scored four goals against Porto and four against Marseille. This is what Liverpool can do and we need to do it again in a big game against Inter Milan.
"We were third in our group, we needed to win our games and we did. I also saw Liverpool beat Barcelona in the Champions League last season. That was also a big game, Liverpool played very, very well and got a great result. To win 2-1 away at Barcelona is a big result.
"They were the best team in the world when it comes to ability because they have so many great players but Liverpool played like a team and if you play like a team you can win every game against every team. If we play like a team tonight then we can win, for sure.
"I think this tie is a bit different though because the first game is at Anfield in front of our own fans.
"But it is important to get a similar result because of our position in the league and because we are out of both cups."
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