Rafael Benitez has revealed that Fernando Torres needed a pain-killing injection and all his powers of persuasion to have the chance to destroy Real Madrid.
Torres took special delight in his goal-scoring performance as Liverpool sent Real crashing out of the Champions League with a 5-0 aggregate win on Tuesday.
A lifelong Atletico Madrid fan who spent 12 years as a player at the Vicente Calderon, Torres had longed for the moment to deal such a blow to Real.
And not even a heavily strapped and painful ankle injury was going to stop him, even though he faces a race against time to be fit to face Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.
Torres had barely trained in the fortnight since he picked up the injury in the 1-0 first-leg victory in the Bernabeu.
Manager Benitez said: “Fernando had only light training for three days but he desperately wanted to play against his former rivals.
“He caused so many problems, they could not handle him or his passion. But there was great commitment from all of my players.
“Fernando did his best to convince me to let him play. We talked a lot about it beforehand and he kept telling me he was 100%.
“But he still needed an injection in the ankle and it was heavily strapped up.
“Playing against Real, particularly with his past at Atletico Madrid, was so important for him. The strapping was very strong, but we felt it was right to take the gamble.”
Torres took special delight in his goal-scoring performance as Liverpool sent Real crashing out of the Champions League with a 5-0 aggregate win on Tuesday.
A lifelong Atletico Madrid fan who spent 12 years as a player at the Vicente Calderon, Torres had longed for the moment to deal such a blow to Real.
And not even a heavily strapped and painful ankle injury was going to stop him, even though he faces a race against time to be fit to face Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.
Torres had barely trained in the fortnight since he picked up the injury in the 1-0 first-leg victory in the Bernabeu.
Manager Benitez said: “Fernando had only light training for three days but he desperately wanted to play against his former rivals.
“He caused so many problems, they could not handle him or his passion. But there was great commitment from all of my players.
“Fernando did his best to convince me to let him play. We talked a lot about it beforehand and he kept telling me he was 100%.
“But he still needed an injection in the ankle and it was heavily strapped up.
“Playing against Real, particularly with his past at Atletico Madrid, was so important for him. The strapping was very strong, but we felt it was right to take the gamble.”
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