Fernando Torres faces Madrid reunion in Champions League
FERNANDO TORRES was handed a dream return to Atletico Madrid in yesterday's Champions League draw.
The Reds will go to the Vicente Calderon in their third Group D match on October 22, after opening with a trip to Marseille on September 16 and then an Anfield tie against PSV Eindhoven.
"With our Spanish contingent, they'll be big games," conceded chief executive Rick Parry.
"All the teams are close by, so there are no challenging trips.
"But there are no easy ties when you look down the groups so you take it as it comes."
Torres moved from Madrid to Anfield last summer, with Luis Garcia going in the opposite direction.
It is the second season in succession that Liverpool will tackle Marseille with both sides winning one game each last year.
But it is the games with Atletico which will fire the imagination.
The sides have never met in a competitive fixture, but have clashed four times in friendly matches - never at Anfield - in the 1980s.
Parry added: "If there was one club from pot four you wanted to avoid it would be Atletico."
Former Reds forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle is also at Atletico, while goalkeeper Pepe Reina has strong links with the club - his father Miguel played for Atletico in a European Cup Final.
Ex-Red Bolo Zenden still plays for Marseille, while Liverpool faced Dutch champions PSV four times en route to Athens in 2006-07, with the Reds recording three wins and a draw.
Manchester United face a Battle of Britain clash with Celtic in Group E, while Arsenal have two arduous treks to Fenerbahce in Turkey and Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine.
Last season's beaten finalists, Chelsea, face Roma, Bordeaux and Romanian champions Cluj.
Champions League draw - Group A: Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, CFR Cluj
Group B: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Anorthosis Famagusta
Group C: Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Basle, Shakhtar Donetsk
Group D: Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atletico Madrid
Group E: Manchester United, Villarreal, Celtic, Aalborg
Group F: Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina
Group G: Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbahce, Dynamo Kiev
Group H: Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg, BATE
Liverpool's Group D fixtures: September 16 v Marseille (a); October 1 v PSV Eindhoven (h); October 22 v Atletico Madrid (a); November 4 v Atletico Madrid (h); November 26 v Marseille (h); December 9 v PSV Eindhoven (a)
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