Fernando Torres revealed he is cheering Liverpool's progress from afar after a 'special' reunion with his former club in the Audi Cup on Wednesday.

The Spaniard, who thrilled Reds fans with his relentless goalscoring during three-and-a-half years at Anfield, was a second-half substitute in the clash with Atletico Madrid that ended in a penalty shootout defeat for Jürgen Klopp’s side.

Much has changed since Torres departed, of course, but the striker’s fondness for Liverpool has not – and he would love to see them complete a return to the Champions League for 2017-18.

Read and watch our exclusive post-match interview with El Niño below…

LFCTV GO: Torres speaks after Liverpool reunion

On the feeling of facing Liverpool again…

It’s always strange and difficult, but it’s exciting at the same time. There are many memories that come into my mind and it is going to be always like this.

On the game at the Allianz Arena…

It was a difficult pre-season game. The two managers changed so many players from the game [on Tuesday] and all of the lads got a chance. This is still the pre-season, to get ready for the season which is coming very soon, but I think you could see two top teams playing against each other and two teams that always want to win. In the end, I think the result was fair and you know with penalties anything can happen.

On the possibility of Liverpool returning to the Champions League…

It’s really exciting that Liverpool are back in the Champions League and hopefully they can get through in these two games they have to play. It’s nice for football in general to have Liverpool back in the Champions League and who knows, we could face each other.

On the threat the Reds could pose to Europe’s top teams…

They are doing things better. Last season was a very good season with some ups and downs, but I think they showed they can be a great team. They are one more year together and if they can keep all of their players everybody is aware of what they can do and hopefully they can keep on improving and do better than last season.

On the attacking players available to Klopp…

The manager knows how to use these kinds of players and they have shown they are dangerous in attack, but at the end it’s all about consistency – which is the most difficult thing in football. When you play against these top teams in European competition you need to be consistent and I think they are doing better and better every year, and if they can do it a little bit better this season they can do great things.