Fernando Torres's curse

Fernando Torres hasn't had a good year. Or, to be honest, hasn't had a good four years. Ever since Chelsea picked him up via helicopter on that fateful January day in 2011, the former boy wonder has been failing to live up to his £50 million price tag

While at Chelsea, Nando did ... well, very little. Unless you count picking up two yellow cards in important matches, like when his team was losing against Manchester United. By the start of 2014-15, Torres had just 20 league goals through three-and-a-half seasons with the Blues.


Yet somehow they convinced AC Milan to take him, even though they probably didn't need a ton of convincing. The club is now where once-talented players go to make their once-diehard fans cringe. The rossoneri welcomed Torres into a two-year loan, stretching out their arms in pure delight. But after one single solitary goal in 10 Serie A appearances -- and not even a decisive goal, at that -- even Milan grew tired of Torres. They figured Alessio Cerci, who'd been having his own tough time of it in Spain, would suit their third-place ambitions better than the Spaniard. So Milan actually bought Torres from Chelsea, then turned around and sent him on loan to Atlético Madrid. Making his move permanent was, hilariously, the only way to get rid of him. Yet no one stopped to consider Torres' feelings in all of this. Sure, he may have wanted to return to his beloved Atléti, but he certainly didn't want the derision, the scorn and the celebratory parties that accompanied his leaving not one, but two clubs. So Torres decided to get revenge. Torres decided to use the final days of his winter break to pay a visit to the Caribbean, or more specifically, a voodoo practitioner in Haiti. Now, this can't be confirmed of course, but there's no other explanation. After Chelsea sold Torres to Milan, the Blues traveled to White Hart lane -- but rather than easily beating their London rivals, Tottenham instead hammered Chelsea 5-3. 5-3! When was the last time a José Mourinho side gave up even three goals? Only Fernando Torres could manipulate them in this way. Then came Milan's first game of 2015, hosting the minnows of Sassuolo. The rossoneri had finished 2014 on a high note, beating Napoli and drawing Roma. A win would've sent them scurrying up to fourth in the table. Indeed, Andrea Poli scored in the 9th minute, putting the hosts ahead. But Nicola Sansone ensured that Sassuolo went into the break on level terms. Then, in the 67th minute, Simone Zaza took advantage of the ever-creakier Milan defense to score the winner for the neroverdi.