Mourinho relieved at Madrid resolve
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
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After a "very hard" night in Istanbul, José Mourinho said Real Madrid CF "are in the semi-finals and that's all that matters" while Fatih Terim's Galatasaray AŞ bowed out with pride.
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Fatih Terim, Galatasaray coach
Our fans were magnificent. There was a fantastic atmosphere here in the stadium. When they enjoy the game, we do too. Thanks again to Real Madrid and José Mourinho; the coach of one of the best teams in the world came to our dressing room to congratulate us. Maybe we couldn't knock Real Madrid out of the competition but we deserve the respect of the whole world. I hope they win the Champions League so then we can say we lost to the champions.
I am a coach who tries to use half-time in a positive way. In this short period we decided to make a change. We brought on [Nordin] Amrabat and made a tactical change. We reduced the gap between attack and defence. Our half-time team talk was about the desire not to lose the game and this brought about the victory. After the third goal, we started to dream of the semi-finals. If [Didier] Drogba's last effort had gone in, everything would have changed.
There's nothing that Turkish players can't achieve with proper coaching. You shouldn't concede goals easily and miss chances generously. We need to improve every minute. We need to hold our heads high and continue on our way.
José Mourinho, Madrid coach
I had no time to be nervous. I don't have time to feel nervous on the sidelines. I know [Galatasaray] are strong. Mentally they are strong. They did not play with 11 men today, they played with 50,000 – incredible supporters. It was hard and they deserved to win tonight.
At 1-0 we missed an open goal to make it two, and then the match is totally over and we win the tie. They go and score, and then get two goals in two minutes, and because of their style it was very hard for us. But at 3-1, I put Raúl Albiol in front of the defence and things started to calm down. We are in the semi-finals and that is all that matters.
In this kind of match we had everything to lose but nothing to gain. I have always felt these players are ready to work and have great motivation to get to the finish line and play in the final. Now we have a semi-final to play, against a great team. We do not know which one yet, but they will be great. It will be hard, yet now is the time to enjoy ourselves and not be nervous or afraid.
