Fernando Torres dreading trip to Valencia

Last updated : 28 September 2011 By Daily Mail

The Blues face the La Liga side on their own turf in the Group E clash on Wednesday night and Torres says it has not been a happy hunting ground for him in the past.

Torres was a regular visitor to Valencia's 55,000-seater stadium when he was at Atletico Madrid without much success before moving on to Liverpool in 2007 .

Warning: Fernando Torres has told his Chelsea team-mates to expect a battle

But the 27-year-old has fonder memories of playing at Valencia's ground at international level with Spain and is hoping the same will now happen for him at club level with Chelsea as well.

Training day: Torres with team-mate Juan Mata (left)

'It's a very difficult place to play away,' Torres warned. 'Every time I went with Atletico, I can't rememberonce winning there. Valencia is one of the big teams, but hopefully it can be different this time.'

'It is a massive stadium with a very good atmosphere, I played with Atletico as an away team, but also as a home team with Spain, because we used to play there for important games three or four years back,' he recalled.

'The support there is fantastic, and it is like a lucky place for Spain. Every time we played there in an important game we won.

'I remember we played there against Lithuania when we were trying to qualify for the World Cup in Germany and we needed to win or we were out, and we won with a late goal.

'Before the game the stadium was completely full, even two hours before when we arrived on the bus the fans were waiting for us, so they gave us excellent support but it will be very hostile playing there as the away team which is good for Valencia.'

Watching on: Torres keeps an eye on Daniel Strurridge and Jose Boswinga as the pair challenge each other in training ahead of Wednesday night's Valencia game

Valencia suffered their first loss of the season away to Sevilla at the weekend but Torres insists that matters little as they have already taken points off Barcelona following a recent 2-2 draw against the European champions.

And Torres said: ''They played a really good game against Barcelona, especially for the first 60 minutes, and we have to be ready and waiting for them, expecting a tough game and a tough team trying to get the three points at home to get into the next round.'

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Source: Daily Mail

Source: Daily Mail