SOCCER:He's their most expensive buy, but can he deliver a victory in Denmark tonight, asks DOMINIC FIFIELD
THE LAST time Fernando Torres brushed with the Champions League, as a late Liverpool substitute in a dead rubber against Fiorentina, his cameo was considered a step towards personal rehabilitation after injury. When he returns to the competition after more than 14 months tonight, he will be charged with revitalising his new club’s entire campaign.
Torres will be unleashed at the Parken Stadium as the man who must make the difference. His first two appearances in a Chelsea shirt were underwhelming but that has not doused expectations. Part of the attraction of securing Torres was his eligibility for this competition. “He could definitely be the key for us,” said his captain, John Terry. “People try and make a problem of the timing of his arrival at the club but he’s lifted the whole camp.”
Theirs is a squad in need of a pick-me-up. The pressure on Torres to deliver instantaneously has been unrealistic, whipped up by an astronomical price tag, the fractious nature of his divorce from Liverpool and the implications his signing have had for Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. Chelsea are as much still trying to tap into his strengths as he is into theirs, and bedding into a side who have struggled for the past three months was always likely to prove problematic.
Yet his new club’s predicament – out of the race for domestic honours, behind Tottenham Hotspur in the pursuit of a top-four finish and with only the Champions League upon which to focus – demands an instant return on their investment. He was rusty in a 25-minute cameo against Fiorentina in December 2009 after a month out with a hernia and his return did not spark the long-term revival his manager at the time, Rafael Benitez, had been craving. Carlo Ancelotti and Chelsea will be more hopeful.
The Spaniard is apparently refreshed after a week of fitness work, some of which has been conducted on his own at Cobham while his club-mates concentrated on Saturday’s FA Cup tie with Everton. “We used the fact he was not able to play in that match to improve his condition,” said Ancelotti.
He will be supported by Anelka this evening – Drogba played 120 minutes against Everton, with his manager suggesting he will start on the bench – as the pursuit of a system that best taps into his qualities is maintained. After a diamond against Liverpool on his debut and something approaching a Christmas tree at Fulham, the hope is this will prove third time lucky. The Spaniard was the last Chelsea outfield player to leave the pitch at the Parken Stadium last night, staying to batter shots beyond Ross Turnbull as if fine-tuning for a proper performance.
“He has changed Chelsea a bit already and given them another option,” said the Copenhagen coach, Stale Solbakken, a Liverpool fan who took no delight in the striker’s defection. “When they win the ball back they can now play a quick pass over the top of the opposing defence because Torres is still quick and plays on the opponent’s shoulder. But we’re ready for him. We have two players in Mathias Zanka Jorgensen and Mikael Antonsson who should be able to cope with his pace: one is young and the other has a bad heart, so together they’re good.”
Antonsson, a Swedish international defender, will be relieved the heart complaint that once troubled his career is now cured. As a 22-year-old he suffered from chronic fatigue after training at IFK Gothenburg, with doctors concerned that his pulse rate failed to slow even when resting. The problem was diagnosed after he had joined Austria Vienna.
The thought of Torres tearing at him might normally have been enough to induce something approaching a recurrence, though the Swede will be encouraged at having emerged relatively unscathed from a collision with Lionel Messi in November. “Torres is fast and a goal-getter but I’ll learn in the first few moments how best to handle him,” he said.
Chelsea will hope their Spaniard makes his mark early.
