Fernando Torres
Fernando Torres celebrates after scoring for Atletico Madrid against Barcelona. Reuters

Just as against Real Madrid in the previous round, Fernando Torres struck inside the first minute to give Atletico Madrid the lead in the second leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal against Barcelona. And this time he did so in spectacular fashion.

Just 40 seconds were on the clock at the Vicente Calderon when Torres drove the ball low and hard past Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the Barcelona goal, having skillfully beat defender Javier Mascherano on the edge of the penalty area.

The goal was Torres’s third since returning to the club, having scored twice in the second leg of Atletico’s clash with Real Madrid earlier this month, when he struck in the opening minute of either half. This effort pulled Atletico level on aggregate with Barcelona, after the Catalans’ 1-0 win at the Camp Nou last week.

Torres came up through the youth ranks at Atletico and returned to the club at the start of January on a long-term loan deal from AC Milan, following his departure from Chelsea.