Galatasaray 3 Real Madrid 2

JOSE MOURINHO squeezed into his FOURTH successive Champions League semi-final — then said he had no time to be nervous when his side began throwing in goals.

The boss who has lifted the European Cup with Porto and Inter Milan is setting his sights on an historic success with a third club at Wembley next month.
But he was made to sweat as his former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba scored the third goal of a stunning Galatasaray fightback to claim a 3-1 lead on the night.
Eventually, Cristiano Ronaldo added his second to soothe Madrid’s nerves in injury-time.
But Mourinho claimed he only avoided a breakdown on the touchline because he had not had time to panic!
He said: “I had no time to be nervous. I had no time to think or feel nervous.

CRIS BLISS ... Ronaldo flashes home after seven minutes

“I knew Galatasaray were strong mentally and they don’t play with 11 — they play with 50,000 plus 11.
“It was hard, it was hard. We had an open goal to make it 2-0 and at 2-0 we win the tie.
“But then they scored one goal and after that two goals in three minutes.
“Because of their style of play it was hard but we are there, we are in the semi-finals and that’s what really matters.”

EB AND FLOW ... Emmanuel Eboue tangles with Cristiano Ronaldo

Real were subjected to the usual welcome from hell at the volatile Ali Sami Yen stadium.
But even the most fanatical Galatasaray fan must have thought the Spanish giants would not be intimidated with a 3-0 first-leg cushion.
The Turks came out with all guns blazing — for three minutes.
Then Madrid swiftly slapped them down with a lightning counter-attack.

RAY OF HOPE ... Wesley Sneijder after putting the Turkish hosts 2-1 up on the night

Angel Di Maria sliced the home side wide open and keeper Fernando Muslera had to race from his line to clear from Gonzalo Higuain.
And when Di Maria fired the loose ball goalwards from 30 yards Muslera somehow got his right toe to it to divert wide.
Galatasaray needed to start clawing back goals FAST if they were to ruffle Real’s feathers.
But with star striker Burak Yilmaz suspended there was only ever likely to be one hotshot making the headlines. Mourinho proved he was taking the tie seriously by sending Ronaldo out for what most thought was a dead rubber.

BEST BA NONE ... Didier Drogba shows he still has the goal knack, flicking Galatasaray 3-1 ahead

And having scored in five successive Champions League ties, Ronaldo promptly made it six in a row by slamming home Sami Khedira’s low cross.
Fatih Terim’s boys must have been dreading the next 82 minutes as Galatasaray now needed FIVE goals to qualify.
Ronaldo flashed in a vicious 30-yarder which skidded just wide and clearly fancied improving his goal tally.

WE'RE RON TO A GOOD THING ... two-goal Ronaldo rejoices after his clincher

At this point Real were imperious and when Wesley Sneijder whipped in a wicked ball for Drogba, Raphael Varane casually batted it away like a bored teenager playing ping-pong with his little sister.
Sneijder’s frustration boiled over when he was booked for dissent after arguing Emmanuel Eboue should have had a penalty following a challenge from Fabio Coentrao. But it was Real who almost made it two with a stunning move, only for Di Maria to be denied by a breathtaking save from Muslera.
The second half was even more astonishing.
First Ronaldo proved he is human when Di Maria presented him with a gift after 57 minutes — but old twinkle-toes screwed his shot wide.

YOU WERE REAL UNLUCKY ... Jose Mourinho consoles old Chelsea pal Didier Drogba after Galatasaray's exit

That seemed to convince Galatasaray anything was possible because they levelled a minute later with a rocket that Eboue will never tire of seeing.
Sneijder then fluffed his shot wide with the goal gaping.
But it seemed to spur the hosts on and they made it 2-1 on the night when Sneijder made amends with a cool right-foot finish after 71 minutes.
Amazingly Drogba added a third a minute later with a cute backheel to give Terim’s men faint hope of going through.
But Ronaldo came to the rescue for Real in stoppage time when he smashed home his second of the night.