Fernando Torres stable and conscious in hospital after head injury scare

Fernando Torres is “stable and conscious” after being taken to hospital for tests having suffered a worrying head injury in Atletico Madrid’s draw at Deportivo La Coruna.

The forward, a second-half substitute, appeared to be knocked out prior to hitting the turf following a clash of heads with Alex Bergantinos in the 85th minute of Thursday’s LaLiga match.

Torres left the field on a stretcher after a lengthy delay, with some players close to tears at the sight of the stricken striker lying prone on the turf. 

Atletico confirmed Torres will spend the night in hospital being monitored, prior to undergoing further tests on Friday.

.@Torres suffers a head injury. He was rushed to the hospital to undergo tests. He will spend the night in hospital for observation.

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) March 2, 2017

Thanks for the messages of support for @Torres. He’s stable and conscious. He’ll spend the night in hospital and undergo more tests tomorrow

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) March 2, 2017

The club wrote on Twitter: “Torres suffered a head injury. He was rushed to hospital to undergo tests. He will spend the night in hospital for observation.”

Atletico then provided a further update, writing: “Thanks for the messages of support for Torres. He is stable and conscious. He will spend the night under observation and have more tests tomorrow.”

The match finished in a 1-1 draw, with seven subdued minutes of stoppage-time added following the sickening injury.