Inside La Liga: Indian summer for Torres

It is fair to say that the local reaction to Fernando Torres rejoining Atletico Madrid this week will have surprised many outside Spain.

On New Year’s Eve, large crowds of fans and journalists were at Madrid’s airport when Torres flew in from Dubai to complete the deal. He then spent almost an hour on Friday signing autographs after his medical. Even local police called in as extra training ground security had their photo taken with the returning ‘El Niño’.

All this might seem strange to those more accustomed to viewing Torres as a bungling target for ridicule. But it makes sense to those who remember the early years of the last decade when Atletico were relegated amid legal battles over the club’s ownership, and concern about its future viability.