Galatasaray pulled off a tremendous 3-2 victory over Real Madrid in the second leg of the 2013 Champions league quarterfinals. However the team was ultimately eliminated 5-3 in the aggregate.
Madrid entered the match with a 3-0 advantage and added to it when Cristiano Ronaldo finished off a nice cross in front of the net to make it 1-0 just seven minutes in. Los Blancos took that lead into the second, but saw the score leveled by a rocket shot from Emmanuel Eboué in the 57th minute.
"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 defense. Our half-time team talk was about the desire not to lose the game and this brought about the victory," said Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim about adjusting for the second half.
The wheels started to come off to Madrid in the span of one minute when Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder (both January acquisitions for the Turkish side) scored to make the score 3-1.
"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," added Terim.
However, Ronaldo continued to carry the team on his back and added his 11th goal of the tournament in the 90th minute to seal the third straight semifinals berth for the club.
"In this kind of match we had everything to lose but nothing to gain," said Madrid coach Jose Mourinho. "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."
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