Ahead of their Champions League final encounter in Porto on Saturday, Ferran Torres admits that Chelsea have become a "pain in the neck" for Manchester City.
Two Premier League rivals are preparing to battle it out for the grandest of European prizes.
Chelsea have already claimed victories over City in league and FA Cup competition this season, with Torres conceding that Thomas Tuchel's side pose plenty of problems to Pep Guardiola's treble chasers.
What has been said?
"They’re a pain in the neck, in a good way, since they’re always chasing the ball," Spanish forward Torres has told UEFA's official website.
"They run a lot and they want the ball. They don’t just go for counter-attacks, they also want to take the ball off you, which deserves some credit.
"City are a team which likes to have the ball, and it’s sometimes very hard to take it from us, but they’ve done a great job against us. In fact, they’ve beaten us twice. I mean, you never know in a [UEFA] Champions League final.
"We’re one of the best teams in the world, [so] we have to try and win it all.
"We’ve won the Premier [League], which is a very hard task – you have to work hard throughout the whole season to achieve it. But a Champions League final [win] would be like the icing on the cake.
"City have never won one, which is an extra motivation, and we’re going to work hard in this final sprint. And we’re going into it feeling really excited, because above everything else it’s about enjoying it."
Torres' record in 2020-21
City snapped Torres up from Valencia for a reported fee of €23 million (£20m/$28m) during the summer of 2020.
They handed a hot prospect a five-year contract and eased him into their fold amid fierce competition for places.
Torres has progressed quickly during his time in England, though, with 13 goals recorded across all competitions - with that haul including a Premier League hat-trick against Newcastle.
He credits Guardiola with aiding his rapid development, saying of the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss: "If you want to be the best, you have to work with the best and he is currently the best manager in the world for everything that he has accomplished, and for what he has been doing at City.
"Above all else, for how he involves himself with you, for how he helps you to improve, and for how he tries to help the team.
"If he needs to stay another half hour so that you get it right, he will. He lives for this and devotes all of his time to football, which I think makes all the difference.
"I’d say he’s turned me into a completely different player from the one I was before coming here.
"He’s helped me play in practically every attacking position, whereas in the past I only played on the right-hand side.
"The more versatile a player is, the more chances he has to play and the better footballer he is. I’m still learning from him every day."
Further reading
- Pep’s Odyssey: City manager back in CL final after 10 years
- Manchester City chief quizzed on Messi links
- Ederson ready for penalty duty in CL final - Carson