Ancelotti keeping Torres fresh for City

CHELSEA manager Carlo Ancelotti insists he only benched £50 million striker Fernando Torres for Wednesday night’s Champions League tie to keep him fresh for Sunday’s Premier League clash at Manchester City.

Former Liverpool striker Torres has failed to score in six games since moving to Stamford Bridge in January and with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka both starting in the 0-0 draw with FC Copenhagen the Spaniard’s place in the team was in doubt. However, Ancelotti was keen to stress that Torres - like fellow substitutes Michael Essien and Florent Malouda - were only left out the starting line-up due to the importance of the upcoming match with City, who are two points ahead of Chelsea in third place. “The players not involved from the beginning tonight will play on Sunday,’’ Ancelotti said. “I wanted to maintain the players fresh and with good motivation.

If we want to achieve something, we’ll need all the players with good motivation.’’ Torres came off the bench midway through the second half to replace Anelka. Ancelotti added: “The only reason (he didn’t start) is that we will have these players - Essien, Malouda and Torres - fresh for City.’’ Chelsea fans will be hoping for a muchimproved performance when the side travel to Eastlands, having seen the Blues fail to net with any of their 25 shots against the Danish champions.

Ramires and Anelka were rare shining lights in the tie, although Ancelotti insists no performances in the last-16 second leg changed his mind about who to start this weekend. “No, absolutely not,’’ he responded when asked.

“I’d already decided the selection to play against City. “The atmosphere now is really good. After Copenhagen, everything was okay. The results were good, the performances... the injured players are coming back in good condition. “Maybe on Friday we’ll have all the squad training.

This is important for us to do 100% of our possibilities. If all these players give 100%, we have a lot of chances of arriving in the final stages. “To maintain this we have to try to win every game. We have to pay attention. Sunday will be very important for us, for City - a very difficult game for both teams. We have to be ready to try to win.’’