ATLETICO MADRID must be gutted that Fernando Torres wasn’t there to see how well they are coping without him.

But then the Spaniard didn’t need to return to his homeland to pick up on the fact that it’s a damn sight better than Liverpool are without him at the moment.

It’s inconceivable to think that if Torres had made his much-anticipated return to his former club that Liverpool wouldn’t have easily closed out last night’s game and accelerated their progress into the knockout stages.

Hard to believe that, if he had found himself in the positions Yossi Benayoun and Robbie Keane did, he wouldn’t have tucked it into the corner of the net rather than hesitating and thinking about it too much.

None of the over-elaboration that so clearly irked Rafael Benitez.

And if Torres had been poised to meet Dirk Kuyt’s late cross instead of Ryan Babel, there would be an advertising hoarding missing a ball imprint this morning.

It would surely have ended up in the back of the net instead and made all the difference.

The difference between coasting it in the remaining group games and having to get something from a second meeting with Atletico or a trip to Eindhoven.

And the difference between keeping vital players fresh for maintaining the early efforts of matching Chelsea stride for stride at the top rather than distracting them with more midweek madness.

But the real problem for Rafael Benitez isn’t being without Torres.

After all, he has a 100% record from the Premier League games he has missed this season and any away point in the group stages can hardly be considered a catastrophe.

The issue is only having three proven centre-forwards to call on. And after last night’s goalscorer Robbie Keane hobbled off, two of them could be out of the defining trip to Stamford Bridge.

And having to throw on Dirk Kuyt in Madrid meant Liverpool’s in-form forward was exposed to a period of action that Benitez was hoping to avoid with Chelsea on the horizon.