adminRonaldo struck twice in Tuesday night’s 3-2 quarter-final, second leg defeat at Galatasaray, which put Real through to the last four of the Champions League 5-3 on aggregate, taking his tally in the latest edition of the competition to 11 in 10 matches.
Lionel Messi of Barcelona has topped the scoring chart the past four seasons but Ronaldo was on course to displace his great rival with the Argentine World Player of the Year on eight goals ahead of last night’s match against Paris St Germain.
Ronaldo (28), who became the world’s most expensive player when he joined Real from Manchester United for a fee of around 90 million euros (US$117.5 million) in 2009, now has 50 goals in Europe, 34 for the La Liga champions and 16 for United.
“There nothing left to say, the statistics are there and speak for themselves,” Mourinho told a news conference after the game in Istanbul.
“What I think about Ronaldo is what everyone thinks,” he added. “I don’t think anyone in perfect mental health thinks any differently.”
Ronaldo initially found it tough to win over the Real fans when he arrived in the Spanish capital and raised eyebrows earlier this season when he complained of being “unhappy for professional reasons”.
He has mainly let his football do the talking since then and although Real’s La Liga title defence has faltered they have every chance of securing the record 10th European title that has eluded them since their last triumph in 2002.
“Goals help us to win matches and it is what I have been doing since I arrived here (at Real),” Ronaldo told reporters.
“I am and I feel good and motivated,” he added.
“The team too and they are giving me good passes so I can do my work, which is to score goals.”
Real’s stumble in Istanbul, when Galatasaray scored three goals in 15 second-half minutes, will be a matter of some concern for Mourinho and Ronaldo said there was plenty of room for improvement.
“You always learn from your mistakes. The team always tries its best but sometimes we make mistakes. It’s better that it happens now than in a decisive match. We have to improve in many areas but we are happy to get through to the semi-finals.” he said.
Mourinho, meanwhile, saluted the passion of the Galatasaray fans on Tuesday night after his team scrambled past the Turkish side into the Champions League soccer semi-finals.
Mourinho’s men had to weather a second-half storm to go through 5-3 on aggregate even though Galatasaray scored three second-half goals in quick succession to win the second leg 3-2.
“I had no time to be nervous,” Real’s coach told reporters. “I don’t have time to feel nervous on the sidelines. I know Galatasaray are strong. They did not play with 11 men today, they played with 50 000 incredible supporters. It was hard for us and they deserved to win tonight.”
Master tactician Mourinho, bidding to become the first coach to lift Europe’s top club trophy with three teams after winning with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010, said he adjusted his team when they fell 3-1 behind.
“I put Raul Albiol in front of the defence and things started to calm down,” the Portuguese explained.
“In this kind of match we had everything to lose and 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.”
Two-goal marksman Ronaldo said Real would learn from their Istanbul experience.
“This match will serve as an example for us in the future,” he told Spanish broadcaster TVE. “In football you cannot just give chances away.
“They made things hard but in reality we were the ones who made things complicated for ourselves. We must make sure that we are switched on for the full 90 minutes.”
Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim said he was proud of the effort his players gave after appearing to be down and out following a 3-0 first-leg defeat in Spain.
“Maybe we couldn’t knock Real Madrid out of the competition but we deserve the respect of the whole world,” said Terim.
“I hope they win the Champions League so then we can say we lost to the champions.
“Thanks to Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho. The coach of one of the best teams in the world came to our dressing room to congratulate us,” he added.
“There’s nothing that Turkish players can’t achieve with proper coaching. We need to improve every minute, we need to keep our heads up and continue on our way.”
Meanwhile, Malaga’s Qatari owner appeared to blame his club’s dramatic Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund on “racism”. The Spanish side were left fuming after former European champions Dortmund scored twice in stoppage time in their quarter-final second leg, including a controversial winning goal from defender Felipe Santana.
The Brazilian’s goal saw the Bundesliga side complete a sensational comeback and advance to the last four for the first time in 15 years. Several Dortmund players in front of Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero looked off-side when the ball was crossed for the winning goal and Santana also appeared off-side when he scored. Sheikh Abdullah Al
Thani made the claim in a series of tweets on his official feed without saying who the accusation was aimed at, and urged Uefa to open a probe into the match.
“Thank you very much for the team you have been champions on the pitch. I’m sorry to go out this way injustice and racism,” Al Thani wrote. — Soccernet.
Online Reporter