5 greatest Fernando Torres moments in a Liverpool shirt

A few days ago, Fernando Torres announced his retirement from football after a pretty impressive 18-year career. He has accomplished quite a lot during his playing days, including World Cup and UEFA Euro victories. Torres became an Atletico Madrid legend after two successful stints at his boyhood club and he won the Champions League while at Chelsea.

However, most football fans will remember the former Spanish hotshot for his fiery spell at Liverpool. He was absolutely adored by the Anfield fans, contributing in a major way. Torres scored 81 goals in three and a half seasons for the Reds, creating many lasting memories for the Kop faithful.

He was perfect for the club at the time, deep into its Spanish phase under Rafa Benitez. Had Torres remained fit for a longer period, Liverpool may have won a trophy or two thanks to El Nino. Nevertheless, his time at Liverpool will always be looked back at fondly. For those few years, Fernando Torres was just a different beast. He was the best striker in the world.

Here are his five greatest moments during his Liverpool career, when he was in his personal prime.

#5 Late show vs Chelsea (2008-09)

2008-09 was a weird season for Fernando Torres. After the stunning debut season he had, expectations were aloft. Unfortunately, he was ravaged with injury problems throughout the first half of the campaign. Torres scored five goals in his first six Premier League games and stayed at that tally for almost four months.

By then, Liverpool's potential title challenge had faded away and their hopes were hanging by a thread. The Reds had to beat Chelsea at Anfield to avoid letting Manchester United run away with the prize. Liverpool played a blinder of a game and dominated proceeding, but Chelsea were resistant and looked to clinch a vital point.

Then, at the 89th minute, with the score still at 0-0, up stepped the big man. Fernando Torres popped up and scored a near-post header to send the Kop into euphoria. He went on and celebrated with his signature slide before transitioning into a sitting position.

Torres would add another to secure a huge 2-0 victory and continue Liverpool's fight for the Premier League title. It would not happen, but El Nino did enjoy some great outings in the final three months of the campaign.

#4 Fastest to fifty (2008-09)

Torres reached 50 goals within two seasons.

As mentioned earlier, Fernando Torres struggled with injuries throughout the first half of his second season at Anfield. This came after an incredible debut season, in which he scored 33 goals in all competitions. While this total would be eclipsed by Mohamed Salah, Torres was still a phenomenon.

He would eventually get to fifty goals at the end of 2008-09, with a goal on the final day of the season against Tottenham Hotspur. That goal made him the fastest player to score a half-century of goals for Liverpool. That is until Salah achieved that feat two months into his second season at Anfield.

This was a kind of vindication for the Spaniard, who had many memorable games that season after his return from injury. His goal against Blackburn Rovers remains his greatest as a Red, but this goal put fulfillment in his season.

#3 Back-to-back hat-tricks at Anfield (2007-08)

El Nino was playing on a different level in his first season at Liverpool. He scored 24 goals in the league that season, second only to Cristiano Ronaldo. Torres was able to score all kinds of goals. Long rangers, one-on-ones, tap-ins, headers, volleys and more, he could just do any of it.

There aren't many strikers who score any type of goals, but Torres fitted that bill perfectly. He did not take penalties, though. The Spaniard would score in eight consecutive home games in the league, breaking a long-standing record created by Roger Hunt around 40 to 50 years ago.

At the heart of that run were his back-to-back hattricks against Middlesbrough and West Ham United at Anfield. The catalog of goals he scored had it all. Capitalizing on errors, catching keepers out, heading the ball in from the penalty spot and gliding past defenders to coolly slot the ball home.

Fernando Torres was unplayable, even scoring big goals in the Champions League against the likes of Inter Milan and Arsenal around that time.

#2 One final hurrah (2010-11)

This was El Nino's last great performance at Anfield.

Fernando Torres had an average 2009-10, scoring whenever he was fit. His season ended early due to injury and he did not play a major part in Spain's World Cup victory in South Africa. Then came the rumors that he wanted to leave Liverpool that summer.

Roy Hodgson was the manager at the time and there hadn't been worse times. Still, Torres stayed put at Anfield for another six months. However, he was not his old self. Injuries had taken a toll on him and he was on a decline.

That is why his sudden burst of excellence against Chelsea was a surprise. Torres proved that he still got it, to some extent, by scoring two world-class goals. The second one was a better, curling it in from the edge of the area.

That would be the final time that Anfield was graced by the excellent ability of El Nino, as he would move to the Blues in January for £50 million, a then-record in the Premier League. Despite winning a few trophies, he really never reached the personal heights he did from 2007 to 2009 when he was at Chelsea.

#1 Destroying Nemanja Vidic (2008-09)

Out of all the defenders that were terrorized by Fernando Torres, Nemanja Vidic felt the force of it most. He got the better of the Spaniard in their first two encounters in 2007-08, but the following season saw a huge turn in the tables. Failure to win at Old Trafford threatened to kill the title race off once and for all. Liverpool had a massive spring in their step when they visited Manchester United in mid-March.

Torres, on that day, made Vidic look average. He took him on and even stole the ball from him to score the Reds' first goal in a 4-1 victory. The Serb could not handle Torres and eventually got sent off. The second time he had seen red against Liverpool that season.

The following season, El Nino once again scared the life out of Vidic and even Rio Ferdinand, as he scored against the Red Devils again in a 2-0 victory. He got another one against them later in the season, but Liverpool lost that game 2-1.

The most prominent game though was the one at Old Trafford in 2009, as Torres embarrassed Vidic throughout the game. Mind you, this was when Vidic was at his absolute peak and United's defense was pretty much a brick wall. That was the power of prime Torres, destroying the greatest of defenders on his best day.