In brief
Fernando Torres included former Liverpool colleagues Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, and Steven Gerrard in his all-time starting lineup.
Torres scored 81 goals in 142 games throughout his three and a half years at Liverpool.
In addition, the Spain striker played for Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, winning the Champions League with the latter in 2012.
Many football fans consider Fernando Torres to be among the greatest attackers of his generation. When he was at his best with Liverpool in the late 2000s, he was perhaps the most respected No. 9 in the world. However, after moving to Stamford Bridge for £50 million in January 2011, his standing as a top striker plummeted.
Torres added three prestigious titles to his collection—the FA Cup, the Europa League, and, of course, the Champions League—despite not being able to replicate his finest play in West London. Before rejoining Atletico Madrid, Torres, who also had great success playing for Spain internationally, played for AC Milan.
After spending a season with the Japanese team Sagan Tosu, he ended his illustrious career in 2019. He is presently the manager of Atletico’s B team, which plays football in the third division of Spain. Throughout his career, Torres played with many amazing players, but who would be included in his Ultimate XI?
Goalkeeper and Defence
Jan Oblak; Carles Puyol, Diego Godin, John Terry
“I played with him for three-and-a-half years at Atletico and he’s an amazing custodian,” Torres said of the Slovenian, who he played with during his second stint with Atletico Madrid. Choosing a goalie is hard, but I’ll go with Jan Oblak. Torres paired Diego Godin and John Terry with Carles Puyol, his first defensive selection, whom he called “a key player and amazing defender.” He went on to say:
“I’ll need three excellent defenders who can work together if I wish to defend with three. I need the three center-backs to play in position because there are no full-backs. We can always defend with three because Godin, Puyol, and Terry are excellent defenders and ball handlers.”
The goalie and defenders in Fernando Torres’ starting lineup are his finest teammates.
Place
Name
Club or clubs
Played together for a few minutes
Goalie
Oblak, Jan
Real Madrid
5,867
The centre-back
Godin, Diego
Real Madrid
5,255
The centre-back
Puyol Carles
Spain
3,221
The centre-back
Terry, John
Chelsea
1,602
The midfield
Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard, Xavi, and Javier Mascherano
With Argentina’s Javier Mascherano starting at the base of midfield, Torres stocked his midfield with five outstanding players. Regarding Mascherano, Torres stated: “[He is] a player all teams need.” I like playing with this player at Liverpool since they were hard-working and skilled with the ball. As you can see during our time at Liverpool, Xabi Alonso will be Mascherano’s ideal teammate. Mascherano and Alonso make the ideal duo, but they will need Alonso’s skill with the ball to perform.
During his tenure at Liverpool, Torres developed a great rapport with Steven Gerrard, so it was not surprise that he choose the former England midfielder.
Steven Gerrard is in the advanced midfield position. My icon player is this one. Steven must be on the team. A critical player for me and, of course, the most significant player in that capacity as a No. 10 in any system or squad. I’ve played with the best player. The player that finished my game was him. The icon player, captain of that squad, and I would be thrilled to play with him once more because there is a before and after picture of us together.
Despite not playing together at the club level, Torres, Xavi, and Andres Iniesta won three big international competitions in a row: Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup, and Euro 2012. “Andres Iniesta is among the greatest Spanish athletes of all time. Brilliant with the ball and a smart player. Of course, the best team I played with had to include Iniesta. Conversely, there is Xavi Hernandez. Again, perhaps the two greatest Spanish players of all time, together with Iniesta. Two Euros and one World Cup together are incredible memories. He (Xavi) was the player who assisted me on every significant goal I scored with Spain during our many games together.”
Fernando Torres’ top midfield partners in the starting lineup
Place
Name
Club or clubs
Played together for a few minutes
Midfield defence
Mascherano, Javier
Liverpool
5,688
Midfield centre
Alonso Xabi
Spain’s Liverpool
7,218
Midfield centre
Xavi
Spain
4,164
Midfield attack
Iniesta Andres
Spain
2,847
Midfield attack
Gerrard, Steven
Liverpool
8,789
Attack
Villa David and Torres Fernando
David Villa, a former striker for Valencia and Barcelona, is another player Torres excelled with on the international scene. During Spain’s reign of supremacy in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Villa and Torres were important attackers. Regarding Villa, Torres stated:
“The Spanish goal scorer with the all-time record.” wonderful times spent together. We played a lot of games together and won a lot of trophies with Spain. His traits and objectives are essential to the squad.
Torres himself completed the team. “With these players, I’m confident that I would score a lot of goals and provide a lot of assists, so I’d pick myself as the last striker.” My Ultimate XI is it.
The top strikers in Fernando Torres’ starting lineup
Place
Name
Club or clubs
Played together for a few minutes
Attacker
Villa, David
Spain
2,840
Attacker
Torres Fernando
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