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La Liga: Fernando Torres scored again for Atletico Madrid against Barcelona but why is he back in the goals?

Atletico Madrid forward Fernando Torres celebrates after scoring the opener during the Spanish Copa del Rey quarter final second leg v Barcelona

After another Fernando Torres goal, we look at how the striker has rediscovered his form...

"Until you're wearing that strip again, you don't realise how much you missed it." - Fernando Torres, January 2015

Fernando Torres showed again why he's a transformed man back in an Atletico Madrid shirt by scoring within 39 seconds of his side's Copa del Rey quarter-final second-leg tie at home to Barcelona on Wednesday night.

While Barcelona came back to win the game 3-2 and progress to the semi-finals, it seems the days of Torres being a mere punchline are now over. What Paul Scholes described in November as one of the biggest mysteries in football finally looks to have been solved. The question is how?

Firstly, it should be acknowledged that from his goals in the semi-final of the Champions League and final of the European Championship in 2012 to his Europa League final strike the following year, Torres never lost that knack of coming up with something on the big occasion.

The problem seems to have been coaxing that kind of contribution on a regular basis. Jose Mourinho had little enthusiasm for doing that over the long term at Chelsea, hinting at tactical reasons for the decision.

Image: Fernando Torres: Smiling again

Torres has now effectively swapped clubs with Diego Costa, the very man Mourinho wanted at Chelsea because of his ability to hold the ball up that Torres lacked. "When he has the ball on his feet with the back to the goal, he's not a very skilful player," said Mourinho.

In contrast, Diego Simeone has welcomed the fact that Torres has different qualities to Costa's erstwhile successor Mario Mandzukic. Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola, a man who's been on the receiving end of Torres heroics, believes it is a good tactical fit.

"He's a great player," said Guardiola earlier this month, quoted in AS. "He knows the club well and it’s the team he supported growing up, he’s perfect for Atleti. Simeone likes to employ a counter-attacking style of play and Torres is ideal for this style."

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Barcelona defeated nine-man Atletico Madrid in a heated Copa del Rey quarter final to seal a 4-2 aggregate victory

Opening goal

The opening goal at the Vicente Calderon was a good example of this as Torres received the ball in space with just one marker for company after Barcelona had unexpectedly surrendered possession. He proceeded to confidently nick the ball away from the defender and fire home first time.

There followed a kiss of the turf and a genuine smile. In the seventh minute of the game, the fans were treated to a driving run, a full-blooded challenge and a nonchalant pass to a team-mate with the flick of his heel.

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Most of us will never know the difference between playing in front of 40,000 sceptics and 50,000 adoring supporters but there's now a one-man psychological case study for students to pore over.

The swagger was back. With a spring in his step, there he was leading the press, lunging into tackles and complaining vociferously to the referee. Only the magic of Lionel Messi and Neymar denied him another night of celebrations back in his home city.

Even so, there is now talk of a return to the Spain national team and with Vicente del Bosque an admirer, the possibility cannot be discounted. However, the premise behind the campaign would seem to miss the point. There is a peculiar alchemy to what Torres is doing at Atletico.

"He has the opportunity to play and looks good," says Del Bosque. "He and Atletico Madrid have rediscovered each other." And that is the point. In more ways than one, Torres is back. And it’s in the shirt of Atletico that we will see the best of him. He simply didn’t realise how much he’d missed it.

Watch Fernando Torres in action for Atletico Madrid at Eibar on Sky Sports 5 HD this Saturday (5pm kick-off)

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