Fernando Torres “will not know what the Milan derby really means until I am on the pitch at San Siro.”

It kicks off on Sunday at 19.45 GMT, click here for a match preview.

“There is a big motivation when you have the possibility of playing a derby. You want to do well and win it for yourself,” the striker told BeIn Sports.

“The chance to say ‘I have won the Milan derby’ is something that will stay with you and you’ll always remember.

Fernando Torres “will not know what the Milan derby really means until I am on the pitch at San Siro.”

It kicks off on Sunday at 19.45 GMT, click here for a match preview.

“There is a big motivation when you have the possibility of playing a derby. You want to do well and win it for yourself,” the striker told BeIn Sports.

“The chance to say ‘I have won the Milan derby’ is something that will stay with you and you’ll always remember.

“You can see the team is training in a different way, now the fans on the street are asking you questions about it.

“But when the time of the game comes, only then will I understand what the Milan derby really is. People may talk to you about it, but I will not know what this game really means until I am on the pitch at San Siro.”

Torres has stuttered so far in Serie A and was asked what difficulties he has encountered in this Milan experience.

“It takes time to adapt, because it is very different in Italy – not more difficult, but different. It’s a matter of time, but now I feel more integrated into the team and I understand what the team needs.

“In the end, if you score, people will say you have adapted.”

Torres saw his scoring record take a huge dip after the transfer from Liverpool to Chelsea, so what happened to cause such a shift?

“I think it is because of the playing style each team has. Atletico Madrid and Liverpool had a similar style and I made a great partnership with players. At Atletico it was Albertini, then Ibagaza and later Maxi Rodriguez.

“They are players I feel a special connection with. At Liverpool I had it with Xabi Alonso and especially Steven Gerrard.

“Chelsea played very differently. You had to adapt to the team and sacrifice your qualities to help the team.

“You may have won many titles in your career and played in many important matches, but when you join a side with a different style, you have to adapt first and then make the rest of the team understand your style so you can finally shine by scoring goals.

“As I said, in the end the goals are what count. A striker is not judged by his passes or whether he fought hard. What counts is the number of goals.”

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