There are UEFA Champions League finals, and then there are UEFA Champions League finals, it seems. Fernando Torres has been here before, but though Munich in 2012 might have been Chelsea’s greatest moment, he’ll be hoping that it wasn’t his.

Torres was there in the Allianz Arena four years ago, and had played his part in getting Roberto Di Matteo’s team there, having sealed safe passage past Barcelona in the semi-final with that smartly taken breakaway goal at Camp Nou as the hosts pressed for a winner of their own.

Yet it felt in the final—like most of his spell at Stamford Bridge, if we’re being honest—that he was there in body but perhaps not entirely in spirit. "I was not in a good place," as the man himself recently said, according to Pete Jenson of the Daily Mail.

It’s easy to forget that Torres was part of that Chelsea victory. One remembers Petr Cech’s saves and Didier Drogba’s decisive contributions, but the Spain striker was a fairly peripheral figure. He didn’t even take one of the Blues’ five shootout penalties.

What a difference four years makes. When referee Cuneyt Cakir blew for a foul by Javi Martinez on Torres in this year’s semi-final at the Allianz, the Atletico Madrid striker had little hesitation in taking on the responsibility from the spot. He didn’t succeed, being kept out by Manuel Neuer (and what a history he has with the Champions League and spot-kicks), meaning that Atleti hung on for, rather than coasted to, the final whistle. 

The intent was impressive in itself, though. This was the 2016 version of Fernando Torres, the bold striker whom most assumed they’d seen the last of. There was no more perceived "hiding," with those runs wide into the corners of the pitch (so familiar to Chelsea supporters) that seeped laudable industry but took him out of the zones in which chances could be presented—and perhaps missed.

Torres’ transformation, his reversion to his old self—call it what you like—was plain. The 32-year-old is once again a threat to be guarded against, a dangerous opponent to be dealt with. If it was going to happen anywhere, it was going to be back home, at Estadio Vicente Calderon, where he used to come and watch Los Rojiblancos as a child with his grandfather.

Of all the feats that Diego Simeone has performed since taking the helm at Atleti in December 2011, though, the task of finding the old Torres in the complexities of the latter-day one always seemed like being one of the steepest. He appeared broken beyond repair, with a miserable and lean spell at Milan (from who he was loaned back to Atleti, and technically still is) compounding his struggles in London.

The feeling, when he sealed his return to the Spanish in the closing days of 2014, was that at least a better, happier Torres might emerge in this setting, in front of a sympathetic audience and backed up by team-mates from the beginning—when El Nino really was El Nino—like Gabi, Simeone and his assistant German "Mono" Burgos.

On that day when he stepped out to a hero’s welcome at the Calderon in front of 45,000 (see the video by Atletico’s website, below), it was clear we were seeing a new, optimistic Torres, caught in childlike wonder.

It would be different this time, though. There was a hierarchy, with Simeone at the top and young, hungry, confident players in between. Torres was no longer a singular talisman of hope, but then again, he didn’t need to be. Atletico were successful, and serious. Simeone stressed that he needed something from Torres other than the lightning-rod role. He wanted what he regarded as standard Atleti values (hard work, selflessness) from a man who always embodied the club.

Atleti have, in the end, got more than that back. The current resurrection is all the more exhilarating for the fact that mere months ago, it didn’t look like happening at all. If we go back to February, we can recall one of Torres’ greatest moments in the service of Atleti, as he scored his 100th goal for the club, against Eibar at the Calderon.

It was emotional for all concerned, and his position at the centre of the club’s heart was underlined not only by the crowd’s reaction, but by his own. Torres immediately sought out and thanked 84-year-old Manolo Brinas, the man who had originally brought him into the club’s youth set-up as a child.

There had, however, been a tortuous road to this milestone. Goal No. 99 had come in the previous match against Eibar, 20 games and almost five months before. In the meantime, Simeone strongly hinted that Atleti would not be signing Torres to a new deal when his current one expired at the season’s end—as per El Confidencial, in Spanish—despite the departure of Jackson Martinez and the impending FIFA player-registration ban.

That situation has turned around in the time since, a spell shorter than that goalless run in midseason that was so painful to watch. A big fan of the carrot-and-stick approach (even with such a reputed son of the soil), Simeone has indicated most recently that Torres could have done enough to earn a stay, as reported here by ESPN FC.

It seems as if the coach has played his hand perfectly. Whether Torres has motored in the hope of changing the coach’s mind or whether he has simply resolved to make the most of every remaining minute in the service of the club he loves, that point has marked a remarkable click into form.

He has scored 10 in 10 La Liga starts since breaking the duck, presenting a pretty irresistible case in his favour, especially with reduced terms expected to be agreed. Torres’ direct running has been just as important, though willingness was never part of the problem. That desire even translated into over-eagerness in the shape of the very avoidable red card in the quarter-final first leg against Barcelona, which ultimately didn’t prove too costly.

Whatever happens next—whether the Milan final is the end of something beautiful or just a highlight on this fascinating journey—Torres has got himself right where he wants to be. As a dyed-in-the-wool fan, with the chance to right what he sees as the wrongs of 1974 and 2014 at the same stage. This time, and he will certainly start, he gets the opportunity to shape Atleti’s history, which is all he has ever wanted.