Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone underlined his faith in Fernando Torres yesterday in spite of his midweek sending-off but stopped short of saying the striker had a future at the club.

The 32-year-old Torres rejoined boyhood club Atletico in January 2015 on loan from Milan and is out of contract at the end of the season.

The former Chelsea and Liverpool forward is banned for the Champions League quarter-final return at home to Barcelona on Wednesday.

He scored early in the first leg but was then dismissed in the 35th minute of a match that Atletico went on to lose 2-1.

“Torres is doing a great job,” Simeone said ahead of today’s match against Espanyol.

“Tomorrow (today) he will play and I’m sure in the next few days the club will announce its decision after speaking with him again.”

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