Chelsea 3-1 Rubin Kazan : Fernando Torres scored twice

There had been the familiar murmurings of discontent from a minority of those in the stands when Fernando Torres' name was announced prior to kick-off here, though by the end Chelsea were delighted to have him. The Spaniard has enjoyed so few outings like this since his British record move from Merseyside but, with his face masked as if he had come incognito, Rubin Kazan found him unrecognisable from the player who has spluttered so often over the last two years. His team have a two-goal lead to take to Moscow, and Torres has a brace to savour.

How he must crave confronting opponents this defensively frail every week. The 29-year-old terrorised a brittle back-line here, all slippery movement across the turf to unsettle the full-backs and even upper body strength as he turned centre-halves. His scruffy, predatory opening goal had raised his confidence, his touch more assured in the exchanges that ensued. He purred at times, sprinting at a hapless Vitali Kaleshin, as he revelled in Rubin's shortcomings. The headed reward midway through the second period from Juan Mata's typically delicious delivery has given Chelsea breathing space.

Torres swelled his season's tally to 18 goals as Chelsea secured a two-goal lead at Stamford Bridge ahead of next Thursday's return in Moscow. The 29-year-old will start that game at the Luzhniki stadium with Demba Ba cup-tied in the Europa League, meaning the Senegalese – a scorer against Manchester United this week – is expected to return to the starting line-up against Sunderland at the weekend as Benítez continues to rotate his squad.

"We always talk about strikers having to score goals so their confidence is there, and you could see that with Fernando," said Benítez. "From the beginning I had no doubts with his work rate or movement but you could see his touch of the ball was much better after the first goal because of the confidence he had.

"He has 18 goals now, so maybe he doesn't [get enough credit]. People were saying he hadn't scored goals but now I'm sure he will score more.

"Physically he is fine. He will play well and score goals until the end of the season. But we have to think about our options. The problem we have is that Demba Ba can't play in the Europa League, so we have to manage both. Demba scored the other day too, so it will be a tough decision [on Sunday]. But whatever happens, Torres's work rate was really good today. It was only ever a question of time. He scored twice, has the confidence now, and hopefully he will carry that into the games to come."