Fernando Torres admits his second spell under Rafael Benitez has been difficult because Chelsea rely more on individuals than the Liverpool team in which he played.

One of the reasons Benitez was hired to replace Roberto di Matteo last November was the hope he could inspire Torres to return to the form he showed at Anfield.

Benitez signed Torres for Liverpool from Atletico Madrid in 2007 and the striker went on to score 81 goals in 142 games before moving to Stamford Bridge for £50million in 2011.

But while the Spain striker has shown some improvement, he has not scored in the League for four months.

Torres argues there is a good reason why the duo are not having the same success as they enjoyed at Liverpool and he told uefa.com: “It’s difficult in this team because we really depend too much on individuality.

“We have players like [Eden] Hazard, [Juan] Mata, Oscar and [Frank] Lampard — they are talented players so we are not speaking about tactics. It’s a bit more difficult than my time with him [Benitez] in Liverpool.

“But it’s good as well because we know what we have to do and we have the extra help from the talent of our players. It’s not been easy for anyone but the team are improving.

“Every day you learn new things and you change a little bit. The key is to adapt to a new system, new players, a new style of football and that takes some time.

“In my case, it has maybe taken more time than it should but after a couple of seasons here I can see how different the team are compared to when I arrived, with different players.

“We have to be clever and focused in the adaptation of the new ideas of the team, the manager and the kind of football we’re playing now. This is the main difference. My mind is more open than before and I can see what I have to do to improve.”

Chelsea take on Swiss side Basle in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tomorrow night and Torres believes the tournament has helped the players get over the disappointment of missing out on other trophies this term.

He added: “The competition is helping the team a lot because it is giving us a lot of satisfaction, not like in the Premier League this season, and we lost the semi-final of the FA Cup, so we were also close. But the Europa League is keeping us in a good mood and we still think it could be a good season.

“We have a young squad and we need to learn how to win and this is a very good way. It is not the Champions League but it is the Europa League. Now we’re in the semi-finals, everyone can see we want to win and the team, I think, is happy.”

Ashley Cole (hamstring) and Gary Cahill (knee) are back in training in time to play in Switzerland, although the former could be saved for the League game at home against Swansea on Sunday. Oscar was in the travelling party after recovering from a groin problem.

Meanwhile, Basle’s Aleksandar Dragovic believes his side can make it an English hat-trick by beating Chelsea to claim a place in the final.

The club knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League last season and beat Tottenham in the last eight of the Europa League earlier this month.

Dragovic said: “With a bit of luck in the game we can compete against any team. Of course last year it was Manchester United and then it was Tottenham this time.

“This [playing Chelsea] is for the whole team an indescribable thing. We have worked hard for it. For each individual there is a huge feeling, we are extremely pleased at this game.

“You get it already with how the whole town is talking about the game. You can feel that the whole region of Basle, and even the whole of Switzerland, is behind us. We will, of course, try to represent FC Basle as well as possible.

“It is David versus Goliath and Chelsea are the big favourites. They have players like David Luiz, who is one of the best defenders, and Torres, who is an excellent striker and also very fast.

“I could list more players, we look at everything, but we want to be able to enjoy the two games against them.”