I Could Have Joined Milan - Torres

Liverpool ace Fernando Torres, who finished third in this year's Ballon D'Or voting behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, revealed he was very close to joining Milan before signing for the Reds in 2007.

"I know that Milan were interested in me and that the clubs talked between them, but never to me," he said. "[His former club] Atletico never told me they intended to sell me before ending the negotiations with Milan, but there was talk about me joining them. It's always nice when the top clubs are interested in you."

The Spanish international did get a chance to play at the San Siro stadium last season, as Liverpool faced Inter in the last 16 stage of the Champions League and Torres scored the winning goal at the 'Scala del Calcio'.

"I was impressed, I had never played in that stadium," he continued. "Everyone had talked to me about it, but playing there is something else. There's a very long tunnel, which added to the atmosphere, and we understood it would be even tougher than we thought."

The Euro 2008 winner also talked about defender Marco Materazzi's sending off in the first leg of last season's Champions League tie, which he admits made it easier for Liverpool.

"When he was sent off last season it was perhaps a bit excessive, they were two harsh yellow cards, and if Inter had remained with eleven men it would have been much harder for us to qualify for the quarter finals...," the 24-year-old said.

Danilo Pochini