'Torres was a fantastic player, but I never feared playing against him' Exclusive: Nemanja Vidic talks about his iconic battles with the Liverpool great

Competition Champions League 'Torres was a fantastic player, but I never feared playing against him' Exclusive: Nemanja Vidic talks about his iconic battles with the Liverpool great News By Mark White published 31 May 2026 Manchester United legend Nemanja Vidic was talking to FourFourTwo courtesy of Heineken's Fans Have More Friends campaign When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Nemanja Vidic is a legendary Champions League winner (Image credit: Heineken) Copy link Facebook X Pinterest Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Manchester United legend Nemanja Vidic has told FourFourTwo about what it was like facing Fernando Torres. With Manchester United and Liverpool squaring off for the biggest prizes in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the rivalry stepped up a notch, as Vidic faced Torres in numerous battles – with the Serbian and the Spaniard's rivalry defining an era of the Premier League. Vidic was speaking to FourFourTwo ahead of the Champions League final, courtesy of Heineken – whose Fans Have More Friends campaign gets the average supporter closer to the action and connected with their fellow supporters to bring the atmosphere. 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View Deal“I think sometimes the media will create different opinions about different things,” Vidic now tells FourFourTwo about the rivalry with Torres. “I think Torres was a fantastic player, but I never feared playing against him. Liverpool was always the derby match, and the only thing people can say is, ‘Yeah, you had a few red cards against Liverpool.’ Nemanja Vidic was speaking to FourFourTwo courtesy of Heineken (Image credit: Heineken)“But I think two or three of them were in the last minutes of the game, the 89th minute, so to be fair, it's not something that affected the outcome of the match. If you look at the games played against Torres, I think he scored a few goals, but if you look at the total games he played, it was not that many.” Interestingly, Vidic now says that there were other players who gave him more trouble than the Liverpool star. Get the FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.“Liverpool vs United is the game fans have to talk about and the media has to create narratives around, which I like,” the centre-back continues. “In certain times I get maybe more praise than actually I should; this is life. “But I think overall there are players that I found more difficult playing against – Drogba, Aguero I would say as well, and of course Messi. Those are the players where you find yourself thinking, ‘Oh, OK.’ “Torres was fantastic; for one or two years he played fantastically for Liverpool. He was amazing and he lifted Liverpool a lot.” Fernando Torres' battles with Vidic are the stuff of legend (Image credit: Getty Images)Looking back on that fixture, too, Vidic says that the early kick-offs were particularly tough against the Reds. “Yeah, it's great to watch that game, Liverpool, especially going to Anfield,” he says, ”That's a tough game, especially playing at 12:30. “I always find it difficult playing those games. At 12:30 you're still sleeping!” TOPICS Manchester United Mark WhiteSocial Links NavigationContent EditorMark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer. 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