Rafa doesn’t treat me as a star

FERNANDO TORRES insists he does NOT get preferential treatment from Rafa Benitez.

Torres enjoyed the best spell of his career under Benitez at Liverpool — and now Opta stats prove the interim Chelsea boss IS getting more out of the hitman.
He has scored 11 goals in 31 games under Benitez, which translates to a goal every 188 minutes.
Under Carlo Ancelotti, Andre Villas-Boas and Roberto Di Matteo, Torres had only managed 18 goals in 85 matches or one strike per 306 minutes.
Many argued owner Roman Abramovich only hired Benitez to get the best out of his £50million signing.
Well, if the first four months are anything to go by, Torres is giving Abramovich more for his roubles.
He decided to speak out after his brace in the 3-1 Europa League win over Rubin Kazan.
He said: “I’ve spent the best years of my career with Rafa. You can’t say he’s treating me differently or giving me preferential treatment. Far from it.”
Torres was said to be fuming after being left out of the side that beat Manchester United in the FA Cup on Monday.
He added: “You all know Rafa and how he is.
“There was a lot of talk of what the reaction would be like, how everything was going to work.
“For him I’m only one more player in the squad.
“Clearly we have good memories together but no one can say that since he arrived things changed in the sense of playing more.
“With his rotation system, the minutes on the pitch are divided a lot more.
“But I’m happy clearly to be reunited with him and hopefully we can win a trophy this year.”
Torres, 29, had to watch from the bench as January signing Demba Ba scored the winner against United.
Yet he does not see Ba as the enemy, insisting his arrival from Newcastle was good for Chelsea and he hopes Benitez will pair them up front in the future.
He added: “The arrival of Demba was good for all of us, he brings many things to the team.
“Always a team-mate means competition for a place but he’s not a rival. I hope we can play together on the pitch but for the moment the boss doesn’t want to change the system.”
Torres now has 19 club goals this season. That is more than Wayne Rooney.
He has at times been the subject of ridicule for his long barren spells at Chelsea after being hailed the world’s top hitman when he was at Liverpool.
Torres said: “I’m happy for the goals and what they mean. We took a huge step to get to the semi-finals.”
He argued the loss of experienced players like Didier Drogba in the summer and the arrival of youngsters like Oscar and Eden Hazard explained Chelsea’s ups and downs.
The Spaniard added: “Players who put their stamp on an era have gone.
“Others have come in to build for the future and a new style for the team. This Chelsea plays better football but maybe we lack the experience the squad had last year.
“We must adapt to the changes. It’s been an inconsistent season and now we’re seeing the best of this team.”
But what does Torres make of Jose Mourinho’s name being sung by Chelsea fans at every game?
He added: “Mourinho is loved at Chelsea, he built a team that won titles and it’s normal they remember him for what he was, someone important here.
“But also in every game they remember Drogba and show a lot of love for Frank Lampard and the same for John Terry. When Abramovich arrived he built a team and they were the visible faces, the people who made Chelsea champions. Mourinho is among the Chelsea idols.”
As for fans’ negative reactions towards his fellow Spaniard Benitez, Torres insisted the interim manager can still win them over by lifting the Europa League and FA Cup and finishing in the top four.
He said: “In football, for good or bad, the results are the thermometer.
“We’ve two titles ahead of us and if results are good everything will be viewed in a different manner to what it’s seen as today or how it looked two months ago.
“When Di Matteo arrived, he was also an interim manager and won the Champions League. Rafa is doing better than what people say or what it seems.”