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Champions League: Marseille 0 Liverpool 4
Stade Vélodrome: Dec 11, 2007
When Liverpool had previously travelled to the Marseille in 2004 a 2-1 defeat signalled the end of their Uefa Cup campaign and later the job of Gérard Houllier.
The omens in 2007 were not good for Benítez's Liverpool either and they needed to win their final group game in a partisan Stade Vélodrome to progress to the knock-out stages.
Luckily, though, Benítez was armed with Torres who like, the mistral winds, blew away the Marseille defence.
The Spaniard, after just 11 minutes, scored one of the best individual goals of his career as he ducked and weaved his way through a packed penalty area to beat five defenders before plaving the ball beyond goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
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Premier League: Liverpool 3 Newcastle United 0
Anfield: March 8, 2008
While Torres may have often been the man to put the ball in the back of the net it was his partnership with captain Steven Gerrard that was often key to his goalscoring exploits.
The duo, in this defeat of Newcastle, worked perfectly in tandem to cut apart Kevin Keegan's side.
"First, Gerrard tore through a flaky Newcastle defence to release his Spanish sidekick, who glided past Harper to guide the ball into an empty net," wrote Oliver Brown in Telegraph Sport. "Then, the other side of half-time, there was a neat role reversal as Torres played in his captain for a flick over the advancing Harper."
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Champions League: Inter Milan 0 Liverpool 1
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza: March 11, 2008
Just days after scoring against Newcastle at Anfield Torres and his Liverpool side headed to Milan where they faced Roberto Mancini's Inter Milan with a place in the European Cup quarter-finals up for grabs.
For the older travelling support, memories of defeat to Inter in 1965 still ran deep. Despite winning the first leg 2-0, many were desperate, though not confident, for a famous win on Italian soil against the Serie A champions.
Step forward El Niño. Torres made the Italians pay for their missed opportunities when his low right-foot shot on the turn after 64 minutes sent Liverpool into the quarter-finals and the travelleing supporters bouncing all the way back to Merseyside.
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Premier League: Manchester United 1 Liverpool 4
Old Trafford: March 14, 2009
With Liverpool pushing for the title with their first genuine challenge since the Roy Evans era, Benítez's side travelled to bitter rivals and Premier League leaders Manchester United who they had beaten 2-1 at Anfield earlier that season.
If ever there is an example of what Chelsea are missing, Torres's goal against United is it. Up against Nemanja Vidic, one of the best centre-backs in world football at the time, Torres ran him ragged all afternoon.
After going a goal down to a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty, Torres embarrassed Vidic with his speed and guile as he left him on his backside before going on to equalise and prompt a remarkable comeback.
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