Published: Today at 10:46
FERNANDO TORRES admits he was devastated to be on the bench against Bayern Munich.
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The £50million striker believed he would be in the starting line-up after helping dump Barcelona out of the Champions League semi-finals.
Youngster Ryan Bertrand unexpectedly got the nod in Roberto Di Matteo's XI but Torres climbed off the bench as the Blues snatched a 1-1 draw in normal time before downing Bayern 4-3 on penalties.
And the Spaniard was quick to put his personal disappointment to one side and bask in the glory as Chelsea lifted the biggest prize in European football for the first time in their history.
Torres, 28, said: "I was expecting to start. It was a big surprise for me, a big disappointment.
“But in the final, the main thing is to win — it doesn’t matter who plays.”
Torres only had one thing on his mind after being thrown on to help rescue Chelsea’s Champions League dream.
He added: "We needed to attack.
“We were playing like we had the handbrake on, looking like we couldn’t attack.
"But I thought we could and in extra-time we showed we could play counter-attack as well.”
Having dominated last night’s game, Bayern were two minutes from victory, missed a penalty in extra-time and also led in the shootout, each time letting Chelsea off the hook.
And Torres, who won the corner for Didier Drogba to level matters two minutes from time, was quick to highlight Lady Luck's part in the club's success.
He said: "We had good luck at the right time but I think we’re the right team to win this Champions League.
“It’s for the fans. They have been supporting us all season, a very difficult season when no one believed in us, with a lot of ups and downs.
“At the end, they are the ones who deserve it.”
Chelsea and Spain team-mate Juan Mata, who moved to Stamford Bridge last summer, added: “It’s a dream come true.
“It’s my first year here at Chelsea and we have won the most important trophy in the final of the Champions League so we are very, very happy.”
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