LIVERPOOL striker Fernando Torres has spoken of his disappointment after hearing his much-anticipated return to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League could be scuppered.
UEFA have issued the Spanish club with a three-match stadium ban and fined them £120,000 after crowd trouble and racist abuse during a match against Marseille earlier this month.
Atletico's next two Champions League home matches cannot be played w
ithin 200 miles of Madrid, meaning Liverpool's clash there next Wednesday will now have to be moved –leaving the plans of thousands of Reds fans in tatters.
The club are set to appeal but it appears Torres, who came through the ranks at Atletico before a big money move to Anfield in the summer of 2007, will not get his return to the Vicente Calderon. "After so much time waiting, it is the worst and most unexpected news that I could have heard," said the 24-year-old.
"I'm eager to go back. I don't know if it is definitive, I hope that a solution can be found.
"It is a shame that these incidents have forced the stadium to be closed, but if this is what happens then we have to accept it."
Atletico's former Liverpool forward Luis Garcia has branded the punishment "excessive".
"There will be complications after a punishment like this, I'm sure," he told clubatleticodemadrid.com.
"The club and the fans will have a lot of trouble seeing the game against Liverpool if the punishment is confirmed. We have to accept it, but I think it's something that should be looked at carefully."
The 30-year-old playmaker did not believe the Marseille fans were totally blameless for the events that unfolded during the Champions League clash.
"Those of us on the pitch were worried because we knew something could happen, but Atletico Madrid and their fans didn't do anything," he said.
"It was the away fans. For all these reasons it seems like an excessive punishment to me."
Atletico coach Javier Aguirre has also been banned for his club's home and away fixtures against Liverpool for insulting Marseille players.
Last night the club moved to defend their position, issuing a statement on their website which said: "
The club feels that the sanctions imposed are completely unfair and disproportionate."
The full article contains 384 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
