Ramos' Real Madrid final dream comes true

Sergio Ramos told UEFA.com it was a "dream come true" to reach the UEFA Champions League final for the first time in his Real Madrid CF career and was "delighted to have scored two crucial first-half headers which knocked the wind out of FC Bayern München's sails before the holders had a chance to turn the tie.

Cristiano Ronaldo, whose own brace took his personal tally to a record 16 goals in a single UEFA Champions League campaign, was more eager to look ahead to the final than dwell on individual merits, while Karim Benzema said the victory was harder work than the 4-0 scoreline might suggest.

Sergio Ramos, Madrid defender
It is a dream come true. Obviously we haven't won anything yet but it has taken a lot of effort and sacrifice to get this far. I have been at Real Madrid for almost ten years and I've never been fortunate enough to play in a Champions League final for the club, so this is the reward for all the hard work, effort and dedication it takes to beat the reigning champions in such a fantastic game.

Everything happened very quickly. Conceding was a big blow for them because I don't think they were expecting it. We'd practiced set-pieces and knew that we could hurt them in dead-ball situations, so in that sense we are very happy.

On a personal note, I was delighted to have contributed with two goals in a semi-final that takes us through to the final of the Champions League. We're incredibly proud of our teamwork and it's a magical night for Real Madrid.

You always go into each game aware that anything can happen – you have to be conscious of the fact that you might get knocked out. But today I think the team imposed its playing style, its character an its desire while still respecting the opponent. I think those were the foundations for our success here.

We don't have any preference who we play against in the final. We've done our part so now we just have to wait and tomorrow we'll see who goes through.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Madrid forward
I think a lot of people thought we were going to come here and not be able to score but everything's possible in football and we showed today that we're a very good team. We deserve to be in the final and everyone, the coach and all his staff, deserve to be congratulated because we played very well.

Now we're going to enjoy the final and try to win. We have to show that we're the favourites out on the pitch. It's always 50-50 going into a final anyway, irrespective of who the teams are, so we're going do our best and prove we're the best team in Europe.

As I said at the very start of the Champions League, we have to take it step by step and game by game because we know that whoever we meet in the final will be a very tough opponent. I don't care who we face in the final.

Obviously I'm happy with the [goalscoring] record but it's not something I was obsessed with.

Karim Benzema, Madrid forward
It was a good match against a great team. We did what we wanted to do and got the win. I'm delighted with the result and especially that we've qualified for the Champions League final.

It certainly wasn't easy. We were up against a very good team and we had to work hard, but we didn't let up and credit to us for continuing to attack. Even after the break we didn't want to sit back – we wanted to keep it up.

Bayern had a lot of the ball. It's hard to attack when they play so high up the pitch, but the few times we did get the chance to counterattack, we made the most of it.

I'm delighted with the result, really happy, but now we need to make sure we win the final.