Torres took special delight in his goal-scoring performance as Liverpool sent Real crashing out of the Champions League with a 5-0 aggregate win on Tuesday.

A lifelong Atletico Madrid fan who spent 12 years as a player at the Vicente Calderon, Torres had longed for the moment to deal such a blow to Real.

And not even a heavily strapped and painful ankle injury was going to stop him, even though he faces a race against time to be fit to face Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.

Torres had barely trained in the fortnight since he picked up the injury in the 1-0 first-leg victory in the Bernabeu.

Manager Benitez said: "Fernando had only light training for three days but he desperately wanted to play against his former club.

"He caused so many problems for their defenders, they could not handle him or his passion. But there was great commitment from all of my players.

"Fernando did his best to convince me to let him play. We talked a lot about it beforehand and he kept telling me he was 100%.

"But he still needed an injection in the ankle and it was heavily strapped up. Playing against Real, particularly with his past at Atletico Madrid, was so important for him. The strapping was very strong, but we felt it was right to take the gamble."

Torres had scored just once against Real in previous appearances and had never been on the winning side.

He said: "The pain was not important. I have three days until the game with Manchester United and I think I will be fit.

"The Champions League victory was a big night for Liverpool and we showed Madrid why Liverpool try to win everything.

"After the first goal it was very difficult for them to score two and the penalty sealed the game.

"The plan was to play with intensity and a high tempo. Iker Casillas is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and every game I have played against him he has been brilliant.

"But I think we played well, we prepared for the game better than them and the goals were brilliant.

"We showed that from the first minute. And Stevie (Gerrard) makes me more happy when he is playing, and he had a fantastic game."

Gerrard hailed the influence Torres had on the rest of the team.

He said: "Fernando was really pumped up in the dressing room beforehand so it was no surprise to me that he played as well as he did.

"He was right up for this one and I'm sure he enjoyed his goal. One turn he produced in the first half was world class and his performance showed that if we are to be successful we need to keep him fit.

"The most pleasing thing about the result is the way that we played as a team and kept on going right until the very end - we were awesome."

Gerrard scored two goals on his 100th European appearance for the club, with Andrea Dossena adding the fourth.

Torres added: "I am very proud. I am proud at the performance of the team and the performance of the fans. We knew the atmosphere would be amazing but it was even better than we thought.

"This was a big night for English football as well. We showed Real Madrid that this is Anfield and that Liverpool can win against any team here.

"Can anyone beat Liverpool in Europe? Let's wait and see, every game is different and we have to wait for the draw but we have confidence now for the Champions League and a massive game against Manchester United at the weekend.

"I hope to win that too. We know it is important to win there because if we do not Manchester United will strengthen the advantage they have over us."