Torres showed there's still some life in him and in Atletico Madrid
It most certainly was a game of two halves on Wednesday evening as Barcelona bossed the opening 45 minutes of the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg at the Estadio Vicente Calderon, before a Fernando Torres-inspired Atletico Madrid came eyebrow-raisingly close to completing a comeback after the break.
Diego Simeone's striker-less formation did not prove as successful in the first half as he had hoped, with two unstoppable goals for the visitors forcing him to inject some attacking oomph into his team at the interval, while the home crowd also needed a lift.
Enter Fernando Torres.
The 32-year-old striker may have scored just one goal in the past four months - against third tier Guijuelo - but the Atletico youth graduate is as determined as ever and can still spur on the Estadio Vicente Calderon crowd, at least for now.
"Atletico won't give up and won't give in to Barcelona," the man for the big occasion had said in the build-up to the match, before being afforded the chance to put his words into action.
There may not be many more blockbuster nights left for the creaking old stadium by the river and there may be just as few for the veteran striker, but few were thinking about that in the second half of Wednesday's match as Torres and the home fans put on a show that was just like old times.
With the striker coming on in place of right-back Sime Vrsaljko and with Yannick Carrasco and Juanfran each dropping one position backwards, Los Colchoneros were far more balanced and finally had an attacking focal point and someone to press the visiting defence.
By attracting the attention of Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti, he dragged them away from the wings and opened up space for Filipe Luis and Juanfran to whip ball after ball into the middle, a few of which he even came close to turning in.
With Antoine Griezmann's equaliser further encouraging the Atleti onslaught, the Catalan side began to show some nerves and Torres was presented with an excellent shooting opportunity when Gabi robbed a ball from Javier Mascherano, but the out-of-form player dragged his shot just wide.
That burst the supporters' bubble a little and reminded them that El Nino of old hadn't really made a comeback; they were instead witnessing a sort of Torres-does-Torres tribute act.
He had shown glimpses of his previous impactfulness during that second half and he has done likewise in other matches this season, proving there is still something left in the tank, but he has also demonstrated that he's close to running on empty.
Wednesday's second half display was enough to spur Atletico to one goal and to keep the tie alive, but it remains to be seen if there is enough life remaining to complete one final historic comeback and to earn the man who has won a World Cup and a Champions League his first medal with his boyhood club.
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