Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said that Atletico Madrid’s Fernando Torres had a ‘disgraceful’ game against Barcelona after the Spaniard was sent off in his side’s first-leg defeat against the Catalan giants in their Champions League quarter-final tie.
The former Chelsea forward put Atletico Madrid ahead in the 25th minute, latching on to a defence-splitting pass and rifling in a low shot to stun the home side. Just ten minutes later however, the Spaniard was given his marching orders after a clumsy tackle on Sergio Busquets.
Following Torres’s hero-to-villain performance, BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand claimed that the striker should be ashamed of his actions at the Nou Camp.
“Tonight he (Torres) was a disgrace really. He’ll be embarrassed, he’s let them down,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.
“He’s on a yellow already, why give the referee the opportunity to even think about giving him the yellow card? As a manager you destroy him in the changing room after.”
Former Liverpool striker Micheal Owen was also critical of Torres’s performance and opined that the complexion of the match would have been different had Atletico Madrid played with 11 men for the full 90 minutes.
“It’s fascinatingly poised. This result wouldn’t have been like it was if Torres hadn’t have been sent off, I’m sure of that,” Owen is quoted as saying by goal.com.
“He’s cost his team big time tonight. He made a couple of shocking decisions. Both yellow cards, Barcelona players going nowhere. He’s let everybody down.”
Not the first time for Torres
This is not the first time that Torres has made a rash decision after a heroic moment. While playing for Chelsea, Fernando Torres scored an exquisite goal against Swansea only to be sent off within the next five minutes for a needless sliding challenge. Although Chelsea eventually won the game 4-1, Torres was handed a three-match ban by the English FA.
The Spain international’s actions on Tuesday undoubtedly affected the outcome of the game, but Diego Simeone’s men are still in with a fighting chance of progressing to the semi-finals. Although Torres is not the force he once was, his ability to make intelligent runs off the shoulder of the last defender will be missed in the deciding leg by Atleti, who are once again likely to play on the break against Luis Enrique’s men.
