Return
home

Diego Simeone, who had by then turned Atletico into one of the best European clubs (La Liga champion 2014, Champions League finalist 2014), was the main argument for the return. Simeone and Torres had never played together, but they shared the same emotional link to the club. Simeone had worn the Atletico armband in his playing days, winning the Spanish Cup 1996. He understood what Atletico meant for Torres.

Tactically Simeone rebuilt the attack around Torres. He played 4-4-2 with two forwards (Torres and Mario Mandzukic in 2014/2015, then Torres and Antoine Griezmann). Torres worked in the box, Mandzukic and Griezmann moved. This was not the Torres of Liverpool, fast, dribbling, running one-on-one. This was another Torres, reading the game, working for the partner, finishing one-touch in the opposition box. 23 goals in his first full 2015/2016 season was rehabilitation after Chelsea.

In the Champions League 2015/2016 Atletico reached the final and lost to Real Madrid on penalties in Milan. Torres played four matches in the starting XI across the tournament, scored two goals (both in the group stage against Galatasaray). In the final he came on in the 46th but could not score. Afterwards he stayed in the dressing room longer than the others. His teammates said he did not speak a word for an hour and went to his room alone.

From 2016/2017 Torres was no longer the main Atletico forward. The main one was Antoine Griezmann, who in this season was a Ballon d'Or candidate. Torres played a veteran role, coming on in the last 30 minutes of the match, often for score management or using his heading in the opposition box. 9 goals in 42 matches, numbers of an episode player, not a starter.

The main moment of the season was another Champions League semifinal, again against Real Madrid. Atletico lost on aggregate 2-4 but won the home leg at Vicente Calderon 2-1 and scored on home ground in the tie for the first time. Torres assisted the second goal from Savic. It was the last Champions League semifinal for Atletico with his involvement.

In February 2018 Torres announced that the 2017/2018 season would be his last at Atletico. He wrote a personal letter to the Rojiblancos club magazine: I ask you not to forget me, but I am already saying goodbye. Atletico is the most important place in my life, but I am moving on. I have found myself another football world I want to try. Two months ago I agreed a season in Japan. The news shocked even the club. Publicly no one had spoken of a possible move.

In the spring of 2018 Atletico played the Europa League. This was the first time the team won this tournament since 2012. In the final on May 16 in Lyon they met Marseille. Griezmann scored two, Gabi closed it 3-0. Torres came on in the 90th, embraced Simeone, received his medal. At the ceremony he held it with a particular expression. It was the first trophy he had ever lifted as an Atletico player (his first Atletico captain spell had not brought him any major cup).

Two weeks later the UEFA Super Cup. Atletico met Real Madrid in Tallinn, exactly the Real Madrid that had just won its third consecutive Champions League. Costa scored two, Saul and Costoevic one each. 4-2. Torres started and was replaced in the 61st. For him this was the eighth and the last major club trophy of the career.

Torres played his last match for Atletico on May 20, 2018 at Vicente Calderon against Eibar. Atletico drew 2-2 but the result was formality. The whole match the stand chanted Grac-ias Fer-nan-do. Torres started, played the full match, scored two goals: one with his head off a Juanfran cross, another with his right foot after a Griezmann delivery. It was his last brace at the top five division level.

After the final whistle the farewell ceremony lasted about an hour. All active players of the club passed by, Simeone came out, president Cerezo, representatives of the Torres family (his father, Olalla, three children). Torres walked around the entire stand with the captain armband given to him specially for this match. The upper stand showed a giant banner with photos of him in seven age periods, from the Atletico junior team to the current captain. It was the most emotional match of his career.

At the press conference he could not hold it. He sat in front of the microphone, was silent for about a minute, then said: I leave knowing my second home will stay here. I will return every summer. And when my new life begins I will come back to work at this club. He would repeat this sentence six years later when he became the Atletico B coach.

Three and a half seasons of the second spell brought Atletico two major trophies (Europa League 2018, Super Cup 2018), the Champions League final 2016 and the Europa League final 2017. Torres scored 24 goals in 91 matches, numbers that are not impressive statistically. But his role was not about goals. He was the moral core of the team, a coach before the coach, the person who explained to young players what Atletico meant.

Diego Simeone said in the farewell interview after the last Torres match: He did not play in a youth style more than Costa or Griezmann. But the value of Fernando for me was in how he held the dressing room in the hardest moments. I am a coach, I can shout. Torres could speak quietly and the players listened to him ten times better. That was the second Torres spell at Atletico: from player to mentor, from a difficult return to a farewell triumph.