Atletico Madrid have one game left in their 2015/16 season, and it just happens to be a pretty big one.

Los Rojiblancos will take on local rivals Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final, a repeat of two years ago and a one-off match that could turn a good season into perhaps the most memorable of all time from an Atleti standpoint.

There are many who have contributed enormously to the campaign so far, and most of them are players Diego Simeone and Co. would expect nothing less from.

But there has been a pleasing couple of months on the report cards for a few thanks to some displays well above what might have been considered within their powers, such as Saul, Lucas Hernandez or Angel Correa—while Luciano Vietto and Oliver Torres are at the other end of the scale after disappointing with their output.

The most surprising of all, though, is Fernando Torres, with the striker having turned around his game entirely and now carrying the hopes of many into a European final.

Starting role

Back in August, Torres' role was clear: he would start some games but certainly not all, almost time-sharing with Jackson Martinez as the Colombian looked to bed into the side, find his way with new team-mates and eventually become the No. 1 striker. The latter part never happened, of course, and Martinez was quickly shifted on.

Torres' role was largely summed up by the group stages of the Champions League: he played in all six games but featured for the full 90 minutes only once. He didn't score, either, but he put in committed displays, ran the channels, linked play nicely and made a good impact once or twice.

He only missed out on a single Liga match between the start of the season and the end of 2015, again with one 90-minute performance and just two goals—both of which came early in the year.

Torres was a squad striker, perhaps performing slightly below-par as he failed to make the most of chances that came his way. Outside the box his work rate was good, he lifted the crowd and he did a good job of linking play on the counter at times, but he looked as though he wasn't good enough to be Atleti's main striker on a weekly basis.

It didn't help that he was stuck on 99 club goals since September and was seemingly unable to take the step to treble figures.

Blip to bounce

For almost four months, Torres toiled in front of goal. He had scored his 99th against Eibar in mid-September and had to wait until early February for the same opponent to roll around—then he came off the bench to finally net his 100th.

Since then, he has been a player reborn.

From non-impact sub to hero, from frustrating to fantastic, from incapable in the box to irrepressible in attack: Fernando Torres' entire demeanour and role in the Atletico side seemed to change from the moment his ton-up hit the back of the net.

Including that 14-minute spell with a goal against Eibar, he has hit nine Liga goals in 14 games, an average return of one every 104 minutes, including a four-game scoring streak that equalled his best run since his Liverpool days.

To put that run into context, Lionel Messi averaged a goal every 105 minutes in La Liga this season—that's the kind of level Torres has hit over the last three months of the campaign.

Contract

It's not just with finding the target that Torres has improved, though that's exactly what Atleti needed and thus has had the biggest impact. He has also been a creator in the past few months, in particular linking tremendously well with Koke who made late runs from midfield. The duo have assisted each other more than once in the title run-in and the passage to the final in Europe.

Torres' displays means the club have performed a U-turn, and the 32-year-old looks set to sign a new contract to remain in place at the Vicente Calderon after earlier not looking likely to be offered a deal at all.

It's tough to measure the change overall in Torres' season aside from his goal ratio, but the level of confidence, determination and power in his play are simply and startlingly on another level compared to six months ago.

From being a player who few would expect to find a goal late in the game off the bench, Torres is suddenly spearheading a side in the Champions League final, and in some quarters, there are people bemused as to why he was left off Spain's UEFA Euro 2016 squad list—that's the level of turnaround he has managed.

He has been Atletico's most surprising player as it looked beyond him to perform so well at this stage of his career, and he's got one more game ahead in this run of form that could be the greatest night of his footballing life.

Follow @karlmatchett