Torres pledges his loyalty

Group D Liverpool v Marseille: FERNANDO TORRES has given his clearest indication yet that he wants to dedicate himself to Liverpool for as long as he can, describing the Premier League as "way ahead" of its counterpart in Spain in an interview that amounts to a declaration of love for his club.

Torres went on to describe the noise generated at Anfield as making him feel "like you have wings on your feet" and revealed he had made a secret two-day visit to Merseyside to educate himself about the city's affinity to football before agreeing to join the club.

The result, said Torres, was he was immediately charmed by the club, its history and the supporters. "I spent two days in an apartment," he said. "There were just books, DVDs, everything you could think of about the club. Some people from the club came over to speak to me and answer my questions. The whole thing was incredible.

"I will never forget a man crossing the street - he just said to me that he worked all week to think of the pleasure that would be waiting for him at the stadium. The club is a symbol of a city which fought to stay alive. Everyone is proud of the team. Players want to come here because they know that Liverpool is a truly great club.

"Anfield is the most English of all the grounds - the people live and breathe football there. There are only 45,000 fans but that roar makes you think you have wings on your feet."

Liverpool will resume Champions League duty tonight, with Steven Gerrard having been passed fit and knowing a victory against Marseille will guarantee their passage into the knock-out stages. The European Cup is regarded as an old friend at Anfield, yet Torres has come to understand that playing on the continent was no longer the club's priority. "It is fair to say the Premier League is in front of everything else," said the Spain striker. "It is 18 years since Liverpool were last champions of England and the wait is enormous."

Torres revealed how Rafael Benitez had tried to coax him away from Atletico Madrid by ringing him after Liverpool's Champions League final defeat by Milan in 2007. "At the start I was asking myself if it was someone imitating him. So I called [the Liverpool goalkeeper] Pepe Reina to make sure it really was Rafa's number. Then after that I didn't have to think for long. I knew that was the call I had been waiting for."

The Spaniard is clearly relishing his time in England. "It isn't easy to adapt but once you have, you would have trouble wanting to play anywhere else," he continued.

"The Premier League is way ahead of the Spanish league. You go to play away at a team in the relegation zone and you find yourself playing on a perfect pitch, with the stands full to bursting and opponents who are there to play football. Even if they lose, the crowd are going to cheer them on until the death. You see this only in British football."

Torres also eulogised Gerrard, describing the Liverpool captain as a player "you are willing to follow blindly", in an interview with France Football magazine that will make pleasant reading for Benitez as he prepares to take one, possibly two, records off Bill Shankly with tonight's encounter.

The Liverpool manager is taking charge of his 66th European game for the club, beating Shankly by one, and hopes to draw level on 39 victories each. "I am really proud because when you talk about statistics or records it means so much more when it is the big sides," he said. "This is Bill Shankly and Liverpool, so it is a massive achievement."

Benitez said he was also proud to have restored Liverpool's reputation as one of the most feared European competitors. "Over the last few years we have been in two Champions League finals and that is not easy," he said. "So the name of the club now has a reputation in Europe again and that is very important."

Benitez will be less impressed, however, by Ryan Babel's complaint last night that he was frustrated by his lack of games.

"The rotation system is a thing of the past [at Liverpool] and I'm a victim of that," the 21-year-old winger told the Dutch magazine Sportweek.

"Each season has about 60 games. 'I must work hard and wait for my chance' is what you hear, but I've shown enough patience. I want to play. You get better and develop when you play. On the bench nothing happens."

Babel is likely to be on the bench again this evening but he said he was determined to win a permanent place at Anfield.

"I don't want to go," he said. "My contract runs until 2012. I don't give up that easily."

Meanwhile, Mathieu Valbuena, the midfielder who scored Marseille's winner in Liverpool last season, has surprisingly travelled with the squad despite suffering a knee injury that was expected to rule him out for a month.

Manager Erik Gerets said: "He is with us as much to continue his treatment as anything else. He will have to improve drastically to be involved, but we will see."

Gerets does not expect to make many, if any, changes from the side that drew 2-2 with Lille at the weekend.

• Guardian Service