Skip to main content

Torres' Chelsea future in doubt after 'biggest disappointment'

May 21, 2012 -- Updated 1214 GMT (2014 HKT)
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres cut a forlorn figure after missing out on a place in the starting line-up for the club's European Champions League final clash with Bayern Munich. Chelsea striker Fernando Torres cut a forlorn figure after missing out on a place in the starting line-up for the club's European Champions League final clash with Bayern Munich.
HIDE CAPTION
Torres' torment
Historic triumph
Power play
Friendly rivalry
<<
<
1
2
3
4
>
>>
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Fernando Torres disappointed after being on the bench for Champions League final
  • Striker Didier Drogba was preferred ahead of the Spaniard for the match in Munich
  • Chelsea's record signing says he will reevaluate his future at the club
  • President Obama watched the match with David Cameron and Angela Merkel

(CNN) -- Chelsea spent the weekend celebrating a first European Champions League triumph after a dramatic defeat of Bayern Munich, but the English club's record signing Fernando Torres was far from happy for the majority of Saturday's historic win.

The Spaniard was left out of the starting lineup for the clash at the German team's Allianz Arena, with Chelsea's interim coach Roberto di Matteo deciding to play Ivory Coast forward Didier Drogba alone in attack.

Di Matteo's decision paid dividends, as Drogba scored Chelsea's 89th-minute equalizer in the 1-1 draw before converting the winning penalty in a nail-biting shootout.

Torres, who has struggled for form since joining Chelsea from Liverpool in a British-record $80 million deal in January 2011, described being on the bench for European club football's most important match as "perhaps the biggest disappointment in my life."

Munich mourns as Bayern blow big chance

"I thought I would play in this game and I couldn't imagine not doing so," the 28-year-old, who was introduced as an 82nd-minute substitute once Bayern had taken a 1-0 lead through Thomas Muller, told Spanish journalist Guillem Balague.

Champions League round up
Chelsea player: Win feels incredible
Blues cheer Chelsea triumph
Moscow fans cheer Chelsea win

"But in the end I could participate and offer the team something. I'm really happy."

Torres scored just six league goals last season, although he did enjoy a productive end of the campaign after netting a hat-trick against Queens Park Rangers and the decisive goal in Chelsea's Champions League semifinal victory over Barcelona.

Despite Torres' important contribution at Barca's Camp Nou stadium, Drogba has been Di Matteo's preferred striker in Chelsea's recent important matches.

Jubilant Chelsea parade Champions League trophy

Torres was also on the bench for the London club's English FA Cup final win over his former club Liverpool.

"There have been a lot of ups and downs," he said. "There have been many times when I've felt lost, I was not sure what to do. I felt like I didn't know where I belonged.

"This season I have felt things that I never had before. I've felt like they treated me in a way that I didn't expect, not in the way that was spoken of when they signed me.

"We've had a lot of talks and we'll talk about my future at the end of the season because the role I've had this season is not for me, nor is it the one I expected to play when I came here. I'm not comfortable."

The next goal for Torres is to be included in Spain's squad for the forthcoming European Championships in Poland and Ukraine, with coach Vicente del Bosque set to name his 23-man squad on May 27.

Torres scored the winning goal as Spain beat Germany in the final of the 2008 tournament in Austria and Switzerland, but his inability to cement a place in Chelsea's team has cast doubt over his international future.

The former Atletico Madrid striker has been included in the world champion's squad for the upcoming friendly matches against Serbia and South Korea, along with Chelsea teammate Juan Mata.

"I'll be hoping to be on the list when it is announced," he said. "I feel better than ever, hungrier than ever, but that's what football is like -- often, when you feel you're at your best they don't consider you."

Meanwhile, Saturday's final attracted the attention of some very powerful spectators across the Atlantic.

At a G8 summit at Camp David in Maryland, U.S. President Barack Obama took in the action alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

It was Cameron who ended the match the happier, but the two European leaders were able to embrace at the climax of a thrilling final.

ADVERTISEMENT
Part of complete coverage on
CNN Football Club
Be part of CNN's coverage of European Champions League matches and join the social debate.
May 23, 2013 -- Updated 1052 GMT (1852 HKT)
The logo of FC Bayern Muenchen is pictured on the hood of an Audi A1 during a promotional event at the Audi factory on August 21, 2010 in Ingolstadt, Germany. Luxury-car manufacturer Audi turned cars over to the players of FC Bayern Muenchen.
When Germany's two biggest soccer clubs go head-to-head in the Champions League final, there can only be one winner: German industry.
May 22, 2013 -- Updated 1356 GMT (2156 HKT)
The Bundesliga model of sustainability is very much in vogue. But are Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund creating a dangerous duopoly?
May 23, 2013 -- Updated 1106 GMT (1906 HKT)
Bayern Munich super fan Boris Becker takes a tour of London ahead of the 2013 Champions League final.
May 23, 2013 -- Updated 1015 GMT (1815 HKT)
CNN takes an exclusive look at the venue of the Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund tease
CNN's Pedro Pinto gives his analysis of the Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
May 17, 2013 -- Updated 1710 GMT (0110 HKT)
David Beckham embraced his tag as a "gay icon" and has been credited with breaking the big taboo -- homosexuality in football.
May 13, 2013 -- Updated 0750 GMT (1550 HKT)
'King' Alex Ferguson is quitting Manchester United but the $3.17 billion brand will survive, according to experts.
May 7, 2013 -- Updated 1418 GMT (2218 HKT)
Italian football lags behind its other European rivals commercially, but newly-crowned Italian champions Juventus is showing Serie A clubs an example of revival.
April 24, 2013 -- Updated 1434 GMT (2234 HKT)
Luis Suarez's biting of Branislav Ivanovic is the latest episode of moments of madness when soccer stars behave badly.
March 29, 2013 -- Updated 0938 GMT (1738 HKT)
Former South African president and Nobel peace prize laureate Nelson Mandela joins guests at his home in Cape Town, on August 20, 2008 to celebrate his 90th birthday year, at an event organised by the Mandela Rhodes Foundation (RODGER BOSCH
Sunderland's partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation is part of its bid to woo the African market.
March 28, 2013 -- Updated 1558 GMT (2358 HKT)
South African children play football in a township in Bloemfontein on June 21, 2010. South Africa will face France in their final Group A, 2010 World Cup, first round football match on June 22.
Each year as many as 700 Cameroonian young footballers leave Africa in search of a professional career abroad.
May 6, 2013 -- Updated 1201 GMT (2001 HKT)
Referees across Europe are feeling the heat. Insulted, threatened, chased off the field, attacked, hospitalized and, tragically, killed.
February 26, 2013 -- Updated 1225 GMT (2025 HKT)
A real human brain being displayed as part of new exhibition at the @Bristol attraction is seen on March 8, 2011 in Bristol, England. The Real Brain exhibit - which comes with full consent from a anonymous donor and needed full consent from the Human Tissue Authority - is suspended in large tank engraved with a full scale skeleton on one side and a diagram of the central nervous system on the other and is a key feature of the All About Us exhibition opening this week.
Footballers have a battery of physios, fitness trainers and doctors all striving to fine-tune their physique -- but are they missing a trick?
February 26, 2013 -- Updated 1424 GMT (2224 HKT)
No Englishman has won the EPL title in over 20 years, while a leading manager reveals that English coaches are now "not respected abroad."
May 13, 2013 -- Updated 0933 GMT (1733 HKT)
Football supporters demonstrate in front of Italian TV RAI after the match between A.C.Milan and Lazio Roma was cancelled 11 November 2007. The spectre of football violence resurged in Italy on Sunday as the shooting dead of a fan sparked nationwide disturbances which forced the suspension of several Serie A matches. Banner reads 'Racism can stop League but death of tifosi has no signification.
Hardcore Italian football "ultra" Federico is a Lazio supporter who happily admits directing monkey chants at black players.
March 5, 2013 -- Updated 1123 GMT (1923 HKT)
When Jupp Heynckes made his Bundesliga debut as a player in 1965, the name of Bayern Munich was a new one for the nascent German league.
February 19, 2013 -- Updated 1902 GMT (0302 HKT)
Football's world governing body FIFA has confirmed it will use goal-line technology at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
February 19, 2013 -- Updated 1403 GMT (2203 HKT)
Match-fixing has become a worldwide issue, with hundreds of matches under investigation -- but how do you actually fix a football game?
February 18, 2013 -- Updated 1700 GMT (0100 HKT)
U.S soccer star Robbie Rogers has "come out" as gay on the day he retired from the game, making the announcement on his blog.
February 11, 2013 -- Updated 2231 GMT (0631 HKT)
The wealth of owners like Chelsea's Roman Abramovich often fuels success, but for other clubs such backers prove a mixed blessing.
January 30, 2013 -- Updated 1342 GMT (2142 HKT)
The Secret Footballer reveals the complex issues surrounding racism in the English Premier League.
ADVERTISEMENT