Carlo Ancelotti not fear that he would be sacked. But after this match, however, Chelsea's form began to improve. First with a 7–0 thrashing of Ipswich Town in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge and then a 2–0 victory over Blackburn, followed by emphatic away wins against Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland, putting them in fourth position in the league, though still ten points behind leaders Manchester United. On 31 January 2011, Chelsea signed Liverpool striker Fernando Torres for a British record £50 million and Benfica defender David Luiz for £22 million. Chelsea lost 0–1 to Liverpool at Stamford Bridge but beat league
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