Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone opted for Belgian winger Yannick Carrasco to compensate for the absence of Fernando Torres up front as his side look to dump Barcelona out at the quarter-final stage of the Champions League for the second time in three seasons.
Advertisement
Before his comeback, Torres had spells with Liverpool and Chelsea, as well as a stint at AC Milan.
“I hope I could be the Valeron or Totti of Atleti, but today more than ever I don’t want to talk about that”, he told El Laguero, AS reports.
The striker was sent off in the 35th minute of the first-leg clash at the Camp Nou for two quick yellow cards, shortly after giving Atletico the lead.
A second-half double from Luis Suarez ensured Barca head into Wednesday’s second leg at the Vicente Calderon with a 2-1 advantage, and Torres pinned much of the blame for the defeat on himself.
“All I can do is say it was an action that could have been avoided”.
“I’m certain that with 11 players we would have won”.
Advertisement
“I’ve had a few hard days and you think about your relationship with the club, it takes days to return to the dynamic and you have to turn the page again”, he considered. “With me going to make it 2-0, it hurt the team”. The moments after the sending off were the worst of my career. “I just wanted to me alone”.
