London: Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is set to leave the misfiring Fernando Torres out of his starting line-up to face Bayer Leverkusen in Tuesday's Champions League opener, according to The Sun.
The 27-year-old is also reportedly unlikely to make the starting XI for next Sunday's Premier League crunch clash against Manchester United.
Torres has yet to find the net for Chelsea this term and has only scored once in 22 appearances since his 50 million Pounds January deadline-day move from Liverpool.
The Spaniard began the season with a promising display against Stoke City, but since then has again looked off the pace and shorn of confidence in front of goal.
Daniel Sturridge was preferred by Villas-Boas for Saturday's trip to Sunderland, and repaid his manager's faith by playing a role in John Terry's opener and scoring the second himself with a cheeky backheel finish in a 2-1 victory.
The out-of-form Torres was also dropped for the Spanish national team's mid-week Euro 2012 qualifier against Liechtenstein.
Chelsea now face two important games in a week as they look to get their Champions League campaign off to a winning start before taking on Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, and with Villas-Boas determined to only have his best performing players on the pitch, Torres is likely to remain on the bench for those games as well.
The potential snub is unlikely to go down well either with Torres or with Blues owner Roman Abramovich, who desperately wants to see his big-money signing reproduce his best form in a Chelsea shirt.
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