A fairytale ending for the club legend
El Nino bagged himself the perfect ending to his time with the club he joined at just 11-years-old with a brace against Eibar in the last game of the season.
It comes after he picked up his final trophy with the club after coming on as a late substitute in Atletico’s 3-0 Europa League win over Marseille in Lyon midweek. Torres also wore the captains armband in the game.
The 34-year-old bagged his first after a breakaway just before halftime, then in after the restart he got past two defenders and sent the ball beyond the goalkeeper in the 60th minute. The two goals brought his goal-tally for Atletico in all competitions to 128.
WATCH: Fernando Torres, who is captaining Atletico Madrid against Eibar this evening, scores in his final game for the La Liga club. #SSN https://t.co/WuEwlWFBJc
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 20, 2018
The second goal shows that the Spaniard still has the pace that set him apart in his Liverpool days and around the time of Euro 2008.
Watch ‘El Nino’ smoke two defenders here.
https://twitter.com/torristana/status/998262944298221569
The game finished 2-2 after Lucas Hernandez was sent off for a second bookable offence, meaning Atletico were forced to play the end of the game with ten men. The result means they finished 2nd in La Liga behind Barcelona, but ahead of hometown rivals Real Madrid.
It’s not yet know where Torres will end up after his stint with Atletico with America and the Chinese league options for end-of-career paydays, however, his old boss Rafa Benitez has also confirmed his interest in bringing to player to Newcastle.
“I think it will be harder for him to come [to Newcastle], not because we don’t want to [sign him],” the 58-year-old told MARCA.
“I don’t know what’s going on in his head, but maybe he is thinking about something else.
“It would be appealing, but I don’t think it would be easy.
“In Liverpool he was sensational. Then we went to Chelsea and, although he had a bad time when he arrived, he was essential for us in winning the Europa League.”
Rafa doesn’t sound optimistic, but stranger things have happened.
