Fernando Torres on 18 September 2011, during an away game against Manchester United, the side's only goal in a 3–1 defeat. He scored his second goal of the season at home to Swansea City in a 4–1 victory. Ten minutes after his goal, however, a two-footed challenge on Mark Gower resulted in his first red card in English football and a three-match domestic suspension. On 19 October 2011, Torres scored two goals in a 5–0 victory against Genk in the Champions League, his first in Europe since the quarter-final of the 2008–09 Champions League with his old club Liverpool, against Chelsea. His
Rafael Benítez his club's new owners had to back him in the transfer market in order for Liverpool to progress following his side's 2–1 loss to Milan in the final. It was reported Benítez did not feel he had the complete support of the new owners, a thought that was compounded by Liverpool's initial lack of activity in the transfer window, although the club played these rumours down. Benítez's spending was, eventually, significant, breaking Liverpool's transfer record when signing Spanish striker Fernando Torres from Atlético Madrid as well as signing Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, Lucas Leiva and Andriy Voronin. Among those Benítez