Ferran Torres chatted impatiently with the fourth official as he waited for the substitution. As he looked toward the pitch, he saw the player he was replacing, Robert Lewandowski, and waved to him as if telling him to hurry up.

It was the 71st minute at Signal Iduna Park and the game had become difficult for Barcelona. In the first half, Hansi Flick’s team returned from the good feelings of the start of the season at Barca before “shitty November”, as Flick himself called it, came.

Barca were superior to Borussia Dortmund, with a high-pressure approach that worked again and were comfortable with the ball. In the first 45 minutes they had 67 percent possession and very few turnovers. The technical deficiencies that occurred on Saturday against Real Betis (2:2) were no longer evident among the players. Flick’s team had authority, but didn’t bite.

The first goal came at the start of the second half when Raphinha parried a good pass from Dani Olmo, but Dortmund’s reaction was almost instantaneous. Eight minutes later they equalized with a controversial penalty after a foul by Pau Cubarsi on Serhou Guirassy, ​​which the striker converted to make it 1-1.

Dortmund got going and the game wasn’t over yet. A defeat could have triggered a crisis in Barcelona.

Torres was used in this context. At times like these it is never easy to take part in games when you are not a first team regular, and even less so when your performance has been criticized in other seasons.

But Torres seemed eager to come on – and it took just four minutes for him to make the difference. Fermin Lopez’s volley from Jules Kounde’s precise cross was saved, but next to him was Torres, who finished off the rebound to make it 2-1.

Dortmund responded again and equalized within three minutes thanks to another goal from Guirassy – but with five minutes left, Pedri launched a quick counterattack and passed to Lamine Yamal, who provided a brilliant assist, leaving Torres alone in front of goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. His control wasn’t perfect, but he scored the winning goal for his team.

Everyone ran towards the former Manchester City striker, even the players warming up on the sidelines. The bank went crazy. Flick started shaking his fists in triumph and Torres smiled before looking at his teammates, becoming serious and indicating that they must fight to the end.

Torres needed just 14 minutes to become the unexpected hero of this game. For Flick he is the fourth striker in a competitive line of strikers. Raphinha is in top form, Lewandowski is back to his best and just three goals away from matching his 26 goals from last season, and Yamal… well, he’s Lamine Yamal.

After accepting that he cannot compete with these three players, Torres has positioned himself as the perfect understudy and is finally comfortable in that role. He was happy to make the most of the minutes Flick gave him, helping the team and coming on when something went wrong. And having such a player who accepts the status assigned to him is just as important as being a good starting player.

The changes had a positive impact on Flick, whose substitutions against Betis had been criticized – Lewandowski, Pedri, Olmo and Raphinha were all substituted when the game was not won and Barca ended up conceding and losing points.

“When there are complicated situations for the team, Ferran reacts very well,” said Flick at a press conference after the game. “The second goal wasn’t easy, but he still managed to score. He was very happy. He has a very positive mentality. After his injury he became very important for the team again and you could see that today. We’ve worked with him a lot, we’ve seen what we need to work on, so he’s definitely a very important player.”

Torres’ history with Barcelona was not what you would expect from a player for whom Barcelona paid €55 million (£45 million, $58 million). He finds it difficult to shake off his price tag and accept the role he has found himself in.

The player struggled after the 2022 World Cup. He was heavily criticized in Barcelona and a large part of the fan base called for his sale. In the summer of 2023, Torres returned with a new nickname. He called himself “el tiburon” (the shark). He explained that he spoke to psychologists and spoke to UFC fighter Ilia Topuria to help him change his mentality.

Since then, Torres has always taken advantage of the minutes he gets, even if they are few and fewer than he would like.

“It’s not that I want To continue, it is that I am go to continue at Barca,” he said in an interview on Rac1 this summer.

Torres has regained the shark’s spirit. He knows his role and executes it perfectly.

“I came to help the team because Borussia put us under pressure,” Torres told Movistar after the game. “It’s one of those games that builds a group because we knew how to suffer. That happened again when we were 2-1 up and they equalized and we responded very well.

“That’s all. It’s about getting our feelings back, it’s the victory, it’s the unity we showed, it’s the way we celebrated the goals and that all adds up too.”

Torres has scored four goals in the last three games. He has become a player who gives Flick attitude, energy and a positive mentality.

Barca’s win means they have taken 15 points out of 18 (they only lost the first game against Monaco) and sit second in the table with two games remaining.

Barca’s players celebrated in a way that reflected the importance of this victory. They had beaten last season’s Champions League runners-up on home soil. For them it was a final farewell to the ghosts of Europe.

(Top photo: Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)