Tuesday 12 April 2016 12:01, UK
Fernando Torres wants to emulate Juan Carlos Valeron and Francesco Totti by staying with Atletico Madrid for the foreseeable future.
Totti has spent his entire career with AS Roma while Valeron established himself as Deportivo la Coruna legend during 13 seasons with the club.
Torres, 32, has two months left on his loan contract with Atletico, his boyhood club who he played for between 2001 and 2007 before moving to Liverpool.
He later played for Chelsea and AC Milan before returning to Atletico on loan from Milan in January 2015.
"I would love to be the Valeron or Totti of Atleti," he told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser on Tuesday. "But today more than ever is not the time to talk about that."
Torres will only be a spectator on Wednesday as Atletico face Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
The striker was sent off in the 35th minute of the first-leg clash at the Camp Nou for two quick yellow cards, shortly after giving Atletico the lead.
Barcelona took advantage of having an extra man, Luis Suarez's second-half double setting up a 2-1 win which Atletico must overturn without Torres, who has protested his innocence.
"I'm convinced that the second yellow card was not a card, I felt a mix of impotence and frustration," he said of his foul on Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets.
"When I see it again I see a slip-up. It's not a kick nor a late tackle. The only argument is that it was an action that could have been avoided. My ambition to make it 2-0 ended up harming the team," he added.
"I'm certain that with 11 players we would have won. The following days after the game were difficult. It took two days to get over what happened. The moments after the sending off were the worst of my career. I just wanted to be alone."
