Fernando Torres scores a crucial goal in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Galatasaray at the Turk Telekom Arena Stadium in Istanbul, to stop the English bleeding in the Champions League Wednesday.
This was thhe Spaniard’s sixth goal in his last five Champions League starts and in doing so he silenced his manager Jose Mourinho’s criticisms of late.
However, following his performance against Galatasaray, Mourinho said that Fernando Torres deserved credit for what he had done this season, even though he has been plagued by injuries:
“Nando’s having a very acceptable season – he had two injuries in his best moments. The first was after he scored the winner against Man City and he was out for a month. After that he scored at Southampton and Hull and he had another injury, but in the middle of that he was doing well and scoring some important goals.”
Fernando Torres gives Chelsea an early lead. http://t.co/VKFYnC88Ju
— Football Vines (@Vine_Football) February 26, 2014
Fernando Torres. He scores when he wants. pic.twitter.com/PhXHi4YeAh
— Motivaciones Fútbol (@M0tivacionesF) February 26, 2014
Fernando Torres scores Chelsea’s away goal. #CFC pic.twitter.com/dzBYrNVKUp
— TweetChelseaFC (@TweetChelseaFC) February 27, 2014
Fernando Torres had a good game, but was obviously tired in the latter stages and Mourinho recognized that as well:
“He gave a lot but obviously the gas was finished and I had to change him,” the manager added.
Meanwhile the 29-year-old Spaniard — who has been fighting for a spot up front — has revealed that Mourinho doesn’t give Chelsea players notice when he takes them out of the starting lineup, moreover Fernando Torres says he does not explain his reasons:
“None at all. You just get used to it and try to respect his decisions. Mourinho has shown that everybody will get a chance and we’ve all been through the same thing. He likes to rotate the squad and shake up the team depending on the opposition.”
Chelsea’s manager has alternated between Fernando Torres and Cameroon’s Eto’o as his starting strikers this season, with the Spaniard starting 11 times and Eto’o 13. Both players have scoried eight goals for the club.
However, Fernando Torres doesn’t have a problem with his team mate, on the contrary:
“It’s great, he’s (Eto’o) a genius. He’s doing what he’s always done, scoring goals.”
Torres also said that he and his teammates are given no indication that they will be benched and have to be ready to perform, “ Under Mourinho you don’t know if you’re going to play or not, so you have to be fully fit and ready,” he explained.
[Image via Jaggat Rashidi / Shutterstock.com ]
