Fernando Torres strain, which was later extended to at least four weeks by specialists. He was named on the shortlist for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in December, and eventually came in third place behind Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Torres returned to action on 3 January 2009 as a substitute with a goal in the 2–0 win over Preston North End, his first in the FA Cup. He scored two late goals for Liverpool to secure a 2–0 victory over Chelsea on 1 February 2009. Despite having spent a year and a half at the club, Torres was chosen
Fernando Torres as number 50 in "The Times"'s list of "The 50 greatest Liverpool players", reinforcing the impact he had made at Liverpool in such a short period of time. Torres faced his old rivals Real Madrid on 10 March 2009 in the Champions League last 16 and due to an ankle injury, he had a painkilling injection before the game to enable him to play. He scored the first goal of the game, which ended as a 4–0 victory, meaning Liverpool progressed to the quarter-finals 5–0 on aggregate. Four days later, he lined up against Manchester United at Old Trafford and