FERNANDO TORRES makes his long-awaited Champions League debut tonight with Rafael Benitez confident the Liverpool striker can make an immediate impact in the competition.

The Anfield side begin the group stage with a visit to Porto where Torres is expected to be recalled to the starting line-up after being on the bench for the goalless draw at Portsmouth at the weekend.

It would be the £18million club record signing’s first ever appearance in Europe’s premier club tournament.

And Benitez believes Torres is primed to continue the impressive start to his impressive Anfield career against the Portuguese champions.

"The chance to show his talents in the Champions League was one of the reasons he decided to come to a top side," said the Liverpool manager. "He wanted to play in Europe at the highest level.

"Mentally, he is ready for this challenge. When you can play as well as he has done in the Premier League then you can play in Europe no problems.

"He is only young, 23, but his problem was he was in the Atletico Madrid team since he was 17 and was waiting, waiting for them to get into the Champions League. Now he has the opportunity to show what he can do at this level."

The return of Torres is likely to be one of several changes as Benitez rotates his squad once again this evening, despite his selection policy attracting new criticism following Liverpool’s failure to win at Fratton Park.

"Three games in a week is always difficult, so you have to use different players," added Benitez, who is contemplating playing Steven Gerrard on the right wing tonight. "But when all the players know the job they have to do, it is easier to change.

"Although saying that

when you lose, it seems the best players are always the ones who are on the bench.

"People can criticise you and there will be times you do make a mistake, but you need to use your squad if you want to compete in four competitions.

"It’ll be difficult for us to prepare something special for Porto. It was almost impossible to prepare against Portsmouth and Porto will be a similar situation."

Tonight’s opponents Porto currently lead their domestic league after winning their first four games, and won the Port of Rotterdam tournament in which Liverpool also participated last month.

Dirk Kuyt, who missed out altogether at the weekend, is likely to partner Torres in attack this evening although Benitez was handed an injury scare last night when Xabi Alonso limped out of training.

And the Holland international acknowledges the value of a good start to the group campaign.

"It’s a great game to start the Champions League with, and is a very important game," said Kuyt. "I know from last year how important it was to get a good result in the first game at PSV, so it will be great to get a good result tomorrow.

"We saw Porto in the pre- season in the Rotterdam Tournament, and they won it, so we know they are good.

"It was disappointing not to win the final last season, but this is a new season. We have a better squad and we’ll just try to win it this year. We are good enough but the most important thing is to start well.

"It’ll be difficult to be there again but it’s not impossible. We have to work hard, win the games and see what happens."

John Arne Riise has not yet recovered from the groin injury that ruled him out on Saturday, while Momo Sissoko and Harry Kewell also didn’t make the trip.

However, Fabio Aurelio was part of the 19-man squad that travelled and could be in line for his first appearance since rupturing his Achilles in the Champions League quarter- final in Eindhoven in March.

* TONIGHT’S officials are all from Slovakia, with Lubos Michel the referee.