Galatasaray bow out in style
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E-mail China Daily, April 10, 2013
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Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (L) celebrates after scoring a goal against Galatasaray during their Champions League quarterfinal second leg soccer match in Istanbul, April 9, 2013. [Photo/Agencies] |
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid, aiming to become kings of Europe for the 10th time, foiled a dramatic fightback by Galatasaray on Tuesday to reach the Champions League semifinals.
Ronaldo, top scorer in the competition, took his goal tally for the season to 11 to make sure that Jose Mourinho's side went through to the last four 5-3 on aggregate despite losing the second leg 3-2 in Istanbul.
Mourinho praised the passionate support generated by the home crowd and the spirit of the Galatasaray players.
"We always want to play in an atmosphere like the one in the stadium tonight," he told reporters. "I don't think our players were affected by it but the Turkish players were really affected.
"They used the atmosphere in the second half and played a fantastic match. They were knocked out but if only all clubs would go out in the same fashion - they put their heart and pride into it."
Real went ahead on the night when Ronaldo slid the ball in from two meters following a low cross from the right by Sami Khedira after seven minutes.
Emmanuel Eboue then galvanised Galatasaray into action with a piledriver of an equalizer from the edge of the area in the 57th minute.
Wesley Sneijder made amends for a glaring miss moments earlier when he added a second goal for Galatasaray by sending the ball between the legs of Real defender Raphael Varane before supplying a neat finish.
Didier Drogba, Chelsea's hero in last year's final, then sent the noisy crowd into raptures with a delightful back heel following a cross by substitute Nordin Amrabat.
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