Torres: An Intimate Portrait of the Kid Who Became King

crisis of unprecedented dimensions. On 16 January, following three days of high-profile accusations, Real president Ramón Calderón was forced to resign because of what the press christened ‘Nanigate’ – allegations of vote-rigging during an official assembly the previous December to confirm the club’s 400-million Euro budget. Vicente Boluda, a 53-year-old shipowner and president of the third-biggest tugboat company in Europe, would take the helm until new elections in the spring of 2009.
    In February, Madrid’s future was still uncertain but on the sporting front, things were improving. Since the Barça defeat, Juande Ramos had notched up nine consecutive victories and reduced the distance with Barcelona to seven points. The league title was once again up for grabs. Hope in the white half of Madrid was reborn. The opposite was the case in Liverpool, where, on 19 January, they lost the top spot in a 1-1 draw against city neighbours Everton, which the next day allowed Manchester United to stretch their lead at the top of the table. On 4 February at Goodison Park, against The Toffees, Liverpool said goodbye to the FA Cup after they were beaten 1-0 in the 118th minute, thanks to a goal from young substitute Dan Gosling. It was the Reds’ first defeat since 12 November 2008, when they fell to Tottenham in the Carling Cup. Furthermore, there was the unwelcome news of a 16th-minute injury to captain, Steven Gerrard, the team’s leading scorer with nine goals in 21 league games and the driving force in midfield. Replaced by Benayoun, he left the field with an injury later diagnosed as a torn left hamstring. Benítez didn’t play him in the league game against Manchester City (1-1) and his presence at the Bernabéu was in doubt.
    In short, the first leg of the tie arrived at the best possible moment for Real Madrid. It’s true that the team’s style of play had not won many plaudits. It had been criticised repeatedly for being safe, even boring, but results talked. The defensive shortcomings of the Schuster era had been replaced with order and precision. The midfield, with Gago and new acquisition ‘Lass’ Diara (from Premier League side Portsmouth), had recovered its solidity. Robben was intimidating – to such an extent that Torres observed: ‘He is a key player. If we give him space he could damage us because he can decide a match in an instant. We’ll take all the necessary steps to keep him under wraps and reduce his effectiveness.’ Higuaín had grown in stature and the front line had begun to function again – so much so that, in the last game before the Champions League tie, it had inflicted a six-goal defeat on an unfortunate Betis. Raúl, the captain, increased his club goal tally to 308, beating that of the legendary Don Alfredo Di Stefano. Those were some of the factors that augured well for Real Madrid in a competition on which they’d placed so much importance. Since the Portuguese, Carlos Queiroz (ex-assistant manager at Manchester United and then manager of the Portuguese national side), was manager in spring 2004, Real Madrid hadn’t got past the first knockout round of the competition and for a club that likes to define itself as the biggest in the world, not to triumph in Europe is a disaster. But as Juande explained: ‘In the Champions’ League we rely solely on ourselves, in La Liga we are reliant on others’ (implying that it was Barcelona who would have to make a stumble in order for them to be caught).
    ‘White pride’ and a good run of results emboldened interim president Vicente Boluda to declare: ‘Here (in Madrid) we will win 3-0 and over there we’ll score a load of goals.’ The colloquial verb he used at the end to indicate a ‘flow’ or ‘flood’ of goals (
‘
chorrear’ in Spanish) can have other, less refined, interpretations, which were understood by everyone in Spain and, of course, by the Spanish Army at Liverpool, where it provoked unfriendly reactions.
    The last time Liverpool and Real had met was on 27 May 1981, in the European Cup final in Paris. It is strange that the two big powers in terms of European titles (Real has nine European Cups, two UEFA cups and one European Super Cup against Liverpool’s five European Cups, three UEFA cups and three European Super Cups) have not had more face-to-face encounters. At the Parc des Princes in Paris in 1981, it finished 1-0 to the Liverpool of Bob Paisley, in front of more than 48,000 spectators. Seven