Fernando Torres will always be loved at Atletico Madrid.Well, truth be told, 'El Nino' has been adored wherever he's gone in the beautiful game because he's always endured as a loveable character regardless of whether he's been scoring the goals.It says everything about Torres' superb impact on the sport that Chelsea fans still hold him such high esteem despite being well aware that he never really lived up to his £50 million price tag.
Love for Torres at Atletico
However, we're inclined to think that Torres is loved even more by Los Rojiblancos than perhaps even Liverpool supporters because his time with Atletico both started and closed out his career.
Ok, sure, Sagan Tosu technically brought down the curtains on Torres' time as a professional player, but it's those two Atletico spells that bookended his time at the pinnacle of European football.
Sadly, his return to the Vicente Calderón Stadium in 2014/15 on the back of disappointing spells with Chelsea and AC Milan never quite reached the heights of his original stint in the capital.
Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Match Reaction (Football Terrace)
Villarreal 0-1 Atletico Madrid
However, that's not to say that his comeback wasn't without impressive moments and one of Torres' finest goals during his Atletico return was doing the rounds on Twitter recently courtesy of La Liga.
That's because the Twitter account of Spanish football's premier division uploaded a video of Torres scoring for Atletico Madrid during a 1-0 win at Villarreal in April 2015.
And frankly, we're so glad that it reemerged, because we'd committed the crime of forgetting what must go down as one of the most 'badass' goals that we've seen in the modern era of football.
Torres chanelling Ronaldo
No, it was never going to come close to competing for 'Goal of the Season' awards, but you can bet that it would win admiration for just being so casual, audacious and downright, well, badass.
In fact, we'd go as far as saying that it reminded us of Ronaldo Nazario both in the way that Torres rounded the goalkeeper, but mostly because it channeled the spirit of his iconic goal at Valencia.
Torres' badass goal vs Villarreal
That is to say that Torres - just like Ronaldo before him - proceeded to baffle the defenders on the line having already made his way past the goalkeeper in truly stunning fashion. Check it out below:
Stop it, Fernando, stop it.
Ice-cold composure
It takes a level of composure to round the goalkeeper that a lot of strikers simply don't have in the first place, but then to carry on that coolness to leave the defenders baffled is another thing entirely.
By the time that Torres actually taps the ball into the net, he can admire his skills by seeing no less than two Villarreal defenders sprawled out on the pitch and the 'keeper helplessly running back.
So, sure, you might not see it making a cameo in a YouTube video of Torres' greatest ever goals, but you can rest assured that 'El Nino' has seldom taken the mickey in such ice-cold style before.
