25 April 2023 , 14:48
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Manchester United icon Nemanja Vidic infamously struggled whenever he came up against Fernando Torres.
The Serbian made a horrendous error to gift the former Chelsea and Liverpool man a goal during a 4-1 win at Old Trafford during the 2008/09 campaign. He was then awarded a hat-trick of red cards against Liverpool as Torres and co. ran riot.
Despite that poor record, Vidic does not quite believe that Torres was his toughest opponent during his time in the Premier League. Speaking with former colleague Rio Ferdinand on the Vibe with Five Podcast, he said: “I think when you think about the hardest player, you think about the team whose competing against our time when we were challenging for titles and that was Chelsea.
“And definitely you would say Didier Drogba was one. He was really difficult to play, especially when you play at Stamford Bridge. Small-type pitch, everything is close to the box.
“He was so clever, strong. Sometimes he fake you know in the box he fell down, next time he goes strong, he played with his strength. Definitely he’s the one. I think at that time especially in the early days of my career at United, he was amazing.”
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Whilst the Serbian hailed Ivorian hitman Drogba for his dominant outings during his time with Chelsea, he was also full of praise for a number of icons that used to represent United’s fierce rivals.
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He added: “Then after you have Sergio Aguero. When playing Manchester City, he was amazing. Fast. You see him next to you. You see his calves? His calves are the size of my thighs. It’s amazing.
“You think ‘can this guy move?’ But he was fast man especially in the first five yards. He was great. Obviously, [Luis] Suarez. Torres is mentioned always. I think he had one or two great years at Liverpool.”
Whilst Vidic has noted a number of the players that he had a tough time of things against, there was certainly no doubting his quality at Old Trafford. After arriving from Spartak Moscow in 2006 under Sir Alex Ferguson, he went on to make exactly 300 appearances for the Red Devils.
He forged a stunning partnership alongside Ferdinand to help United to five Premier League titles, three League Cups and the Champions League. The former central defender eventually left in 2014 as he made a free transfer to Italian giants Inter Milan.
He would only play for the Nerazzurri for one season before electing to retire. Torres quit England at the same time as he made loan moves to AC Milan and Atletico Madrid before switching back to the Spanish side on a permanent basis.
He rounded off his career with a two-season spell in Japan with Sagan Tosu.