José Mourinho is confident Fernando Torres will be able to cope with the conflicting pressures of leading his Chelsea attack at the Vicente Calderón stadium against Atlético Madrid, a club where El Niño – now decisively morphed into El Hombre – remains something of a folk hero. In the absence of Samuel Eto'o, who did not travel to Madrid, Torres seems almost certain to start in the first leg of Champions League semi-final.
"The Champions League is a big motivation for every player," Mourinho said. "I'm not saying Torres will start. But I will say he never hides when we speak about Spanish football that he is a big supporter [of Atlético]. But he is a professional. I have no doubt that in the minutes that he is on the pitch he will give everything for Chelsea."
Earlier Torres had been given a glowing appraisal by Diego Simeone on his return to the club where he made his debut as a teenager. "Fernando is a lad who loves this club," the Atlético manager said. "He always remembers us, he always keeps us in his mind, he always asks after us. I think he will play and he knows this is a huge game for us."
If Simeone's warmth was reminiscent of the disorientating praise offered to Didier Drogba on his return to Stamford Bridge with Galatasaray last month, then that was the extent of the pre-match jousting between two warily respectful managers. Mourinho was unforthcoming on Thibault Courtois's presence in the tie and muted on Simeone – "It's not fair to compare a coach with 15 years of career with a coach with less. It's not something I do" – and played a similar dead bat when asked for his thoughts on Chelsea's opponents.
"No team arrives at a semi-final without good qualities and they are no exception. They are a team we respect and which we have analysed but I am not ready to share with you my vision of how we will play against them."