Los Blancos seemed set to sail through when Cristiano Ronaldo opened up a four-goal cause in the opening minutes, but a fearful reaction by the readers encouraged the Turkish leaders to chase the impossible, that they almost reached as Emmanuel Eboue, Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba struck in the 2nd half. Ronaldo eventually ended their hopes with victory that was sealed by a late goal. Practically assured of a position in the Champions League semifinals thanks to a dominant 3-0 gain in the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid still began the 2nd leg in belligerent style, moving forward immediately searching for a target. Angel Di Maria was nearly the man to offer it in the first moment of play, picking right on up a loose ball after Fernando Muslera's rushed approval outside the area. The Argentine went for the net, but with Galatasaray defenders scampering back he saw the work fall just the wrong side of the post. Away fans, nevertheless, didn't need certainly to wait long, as after just eight minutes of play the Merengue got the strike that will surely put the tie beyond the faintest of worries. An overlapping Sami Khedira streaked past on the right-hand side, and place a teasing ball into the heart. As the Turkish backline did not react, Ronaldo was readily available to gleefully touch home, recording his 49th Champions League target and drawing level with the renowned Alfredo Di Stefano in the traditional charts. Despite that early strike, Galatasaray kept its head high, dominating control against Jose Mourinho's men and attempting to match its competitors. Drogba was the goal of much of the Turks' attacking play, but was let down by bad service and his own diminishing reflexes, and struggled to make an effect. Madrid sat right back and was content to allow its competitors to do the operating, while on the counterattack it remained a frightening power. This strength on the break was shown when Di Maria went within a hair's breadth of introducing a second. The midfielder latched to a wonderful film from Ronaldo to liberate on the left, and seemed destined to put his name on the table. He did not count on the heroics of Muslera, nevertheless, as a breathtaking fingertip was pulled off by the goalkeeper save to keep Angel out, and make sure that the distance would not expand as the two sides went in for the break. The Turkish side continued its unlikely pursuit in the second half, and was honored with its first target of the link 57 minutes in - and it was one worth awaiting. A risky ball across the Madrid area was not acquired by anybody, which helped it to be met by Eboue only on the edge of the area. The back was discouraging during the starting time, but atoned with a sensational energy chance which left Lopez no chance to save, and put Galatasaray on the table. The hosts were now buoyant, and may have reduced the deficit to 'just' three objectives if Sneijder had changed a golden opportunity. The Netherlands star found herself in the proper place at the back post following a minimal cross was deflected into his path but, gloriously unmarked, he fluffed a left-footed shot to truly save Madrid from falling behind on the night. The midfielder wasn't done, however, Cutting inside his gun from heavy, Sneijder went to release a a topic of his side that is put by a shot forward, at least for the next leg. Their eyes couldn't be believed by the Turkish crowd, from a position of despair,. Drogba set up an impossible last 20 minutes with a great backheel to the net, adding Galatasaray up 3-1 and leaving only two goals for the comeback. Drogba thought he'd leveled the tie before being pulled right back for an and Madrid lived to breathe a later date, with RonaldoAconfirming his team's passage with a powerful finish in the last moment. TheAMerengue join Borussia Dortmund in the penultimate phase of the competition with Juventus, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain fighting to assert the final two spots on Wednesday morning. Follow GOAL.COM on Twitter
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