Real sauntered through the match, scoring twice before half time thanks to a delicate chip from Cristiano Ronaldo after a Mesut Ozil through pass, added to by Karim Benzema who finished smartly at the back post.

Substitute Gonzalo Higuain grabbed the third, nodding home from Xabi Alonso’s free kick as Real landed one foot firmly in the semi-finals ahead of their trip to Turkey for the return leg.

Mourinho’s former charge Didider Drogba went close on several occasions but Wesley Sneijder was substituted at half time after cutting a peripheral figure in the first 45 minutes.

Mourinho told Sky Sports: “I think we played seriously. The Spanish press were not so respectful in relation to Galatasaray but we were very respectful.

“We knew they were a good team with fantastic strikers; they had danger and we prepared very well from a defensive point of view.

“We defended better than we attacked because in attacking terms I think we lost the last ball, the last pass, we had easy transitions – three against three, three against four – we could have scored more goals.”

Asked whether the tie was effectively over Mourinho replied: “If you score a goal they have to score five. I think the result is very good but in football I saw so many incredible things that nothing can surprise me and Istanbul is a difficult place to play.

“They have players with lots of experience, players with character, I think they will fight very hard against us. We have to go there very seriously because it is the only way to go through.”

As for his reunion with Drogba and Sneijder, Mourinho added: “I was with them at the end of the match, (Didier) and Wesley. They are family – they weren’t during 90 minutes but they are family.”

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Two goals from Gonzalo Higuain plus a Lionel Messi penalty handed Argentina a convincing win in Buenos Aires on Friday night. Real Madrid striker Higuain scored in either half, with Barcelona forward Messi converting from the spot a minute before the interval.

Argentina controlled the tempo from the outset, looking to find gaps in the visitors’ defence at every opportunity. They went close to breaking the deadlock several times only to be denied by Venezuela goalkeeper Daniel Hernandez but, just before the half-hour mark, Primera Division rivals Messi and Higuain linked up to give their country the lead.

Messi supplied the pass which put Higuain through one on one with Hernandez, and the Madrid man made no mistake with a neat cross-shot past Hernandez.

The gulf in quality between the teams became even more evident thereafter and Argentina duly doubled their lead in the 44th minute, Messi despatching the penalty after Venezuela defender Gabriel Cichero had handled the ball inside his area.

Messi was again the provider when Higuain made it 3-0 after 58 minutes, supplying the perfect pass for his colleague to slot home.

Colombia enjoyed a convincing 5-0 rout of Bolivia to remain hot on Argentina’s heels. The win kept Jose Pekerman’s second-placed side within four points of Argentina, who have played one game more than the Colombians.

The Cafeteros controlled the match from the first whistle but had to wait until the 20th minute to open the scoring, Macnelly Torres tapping home from Guillermo Cuadrado’s cross.

The floodgates opened after the interval in Barranquilla. Carlos Valdes took advantage of a kind rebound following a corner to double his team’s lead four minutes into the second half, with Teifilo Gutierrez swiftly adding a third on the counter-attack.

The misery was not over for Xabier Azkagorta’s side, though. Four minutes from time, Radamel Falcao latched onto Pablo Armero’s pass and notched a fourth goal and then, deep into stoppage time, substitute Armero made no mistake when one on one with goalkeeper Sergio Galarza.

In Montevideo, fourth-placed Uruguay lost ground in the qualification race as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Paraguay.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez looked to have won it for Uruguay when he broke the deadlock in the 82nd minute with a superb volley, but four minutes later Edgar Benitez capitalised on a Diego Lugano error to restore parity.

Finally, man of the match Jefferson Farfan grabbed the game’s only goal three minutes from the end to earn Peru a 1-0 triumph over Chile in Lima.

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The complete Champions League draw set the following quarterfinal matchups: Real Madrid vs. Galatasaray, Malaga vs. Borussia Dortmund, PSG vs. Barcelona and Bayern Munich vs. Juventus.

Barcelona, which came from 2-0 down in the first leg of the last round to beat AC Milan 4-2 on aggregate, will face its former striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibrahimovic is suspended for the first-leg match.

David Beckham, playing for Paris Saint-Germain, is the only English player left in the competition.

Bayern Munich’s reward for seeing off Arsenal is a meeting with Celtic’s conquerors Juventus, considered to be the most competitive matchup in the draw.

Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho is aiming to become the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs, having achieved it previously with Porto and Inter Milan.

His side saw off Manchester United in the first knockout round and also qualified from a tough group comprising the domestic league champions of Spain, Germany, England and Holland.

Steve McManaman, a former Liverpool and Real midfielder who carried out the draw for UEFA, said: “Real have had to do it the hard way so far — they have beaten a lot of good teams.”

Galatasaray’s squad includes two former Mourinho favourites — ex-Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and former Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder.

Unlike in previous seasons, UEFA did not also make the draw for the semifinal pairings at the same time. That draw will now take place next month.kept apart in the draw for the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal draw Friday.

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Del Bosque says “Torres had been a regular until recently, his inconsistency worries us.”

Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea takes the place of injured captain Iker Casillas, while Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez makes the 24-man squad despite nursing a leg injury.

Spain hosts Finland in Gijon on March 22 and then plays France in Paris four days later.

Spain and France are tied with seven points each at the top of Group I. Georgia has four points, Belarus three, and Finland one.

Complete list:

Goalkeepers: Victor Valdes (Barcelona), Pepe Reina (Liverpool/ING) and David de Gea (Manchester United/ING)

Defense: Sergio Ramos, Alvaro Arbeloa, Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea/ING) and Ignacio Monreal (Arsenal/ING).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona), Santi Cazorla (Arsenal/ING), Javi Garcia (Manchester City/ING), Jesus Navas (Sevilla) and ‘Isco’ Alarcon (Málaga).

Forwards: David Silva (Manchester City/ING), Pedro Rodriguez, David Villa (Barcelona), Juan Manuel Mata (Chelsea/ING) and Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla).

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Messi scored in the fifth and 40th minutes, moving into sole possession of second on the Champions League career scoring list with 58 goals. David Villa put Barcelona ahead in the aggregate series in the 55th minute, and left back Jordi Alba sealed the win when he scored in the second minute of stoppage time.

AC Milan, a seven-time winner of Europe’s top club tournament, won the first leg in Italy on Feb. 20 and nearly got a valuable away goal in the 38th minute, but 18-year-old forward M’baye Niang hit a post with an open shot on a counterattack. If he had tied the game 1-1, Barcelona would have needed at least three more goals at that point to advance because away goals are a tiebreaker.

Messi, the four-time FIFA Player of the Year, passed Ruud van Nistelrooy (56) on the Champions League scoring list and trails only Raul Gonzalez (71). With his 18th multigoal game of the season, Messi increased his season goals total to 53.

In the other match, Galatasaray won 3-2 at Schalke to advance on 4-3 aggregate and reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2001.

Real Madrid, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain also are in Friday’s draw. In the final second-round matches Wednesday, Arsenal tries to overturn a 3-1 deficit at Bayern Munich and Porto goes to Malaga with a 1-0 lead.

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The former England captain is set to make his debut for PSG after joining as a free agent in late January for five months.

“As big a star as Beckham is off the pitch … realistically he doesn’t put the fear of God into you anymore like he used to when he played in the Premier League,” Barton told a news conference. “No disrespect to him, but if he does manage to play for Paris (he) will probably not be the main concern for us as a defensive unit.”

Barton, who joined Marseille in late August on a one-year loan deal from Queens Park Rangers, said that big-spending PSG had plenty of gifted players and that “it would be naive of us to focus on David Beckham.”

Barton was equally emphatic about matters off the pitch involving his fellow Englishman.

“I don’t envy his position,” he said. “I don’t envy the amount of media intrusion he has in his life on a daily basis.”

Beckham is looking to win the championship with a fourth different club and in a fourth different country, after success at Manchester United, Real Madrid and the Los Angeles Galaxy. The 37-year-old midfielder made his last appearance for the Galaxy on Dec. 1.

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The German international said in an interview published on Madrid’s official website on Tuesday that clasicos were the biggest games in football, and players always looked forward to them.

“We will do everything we can to win,” Ozil said. “It is the best derby in the world and the whole planet will be following it. It is always something special for us. The players want to show what we can do and always play against the best. We want to reward our fans with a win against Barcelona.”

The game is the fourth meeting of the sides already this season, and two more clasicos are to come in the next few weeks. Ozil said memories of wins over Barca – such as the 2011 Copa del Rey final, last autumn’s Spanish Supercopa win or the La Liga victory at the Camp Nou last April – always stuck in his mind.

“The best moments are when you win trophies with the club,” he said. “That final against Barcelona, when we beat them in the Super Cup, or winning in La Liga, those stay in your memory for ever.”

Madrid’s team, especially at the back, will be below full-strength for the game. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas, defenders Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Fabio Coentrao, and winger Angel Di Maria, are all missing through either injury or suspension.

Nevertheless, Ozil said that the aim is to win on Wednesday and take a lead into the second leg at the Camp Nou in three weeks time.

“Naturally we know Barcelona have a very strong team, with very good players, but we are concentrating on ourselves,” he said. “We are in good form and we are playing at home. Our aim is to win the match. We want to reach the final.”

By contrast Barca travel to Madrid with a full squad to choose from, with Copa keeper Jose Pinto the only likely change to their strongest XI.

The Catalan club’s assistant coach Jordi Roura insisted on Tuesday however that neither Madrid’s absentees, nor Barca’s 15 point advantage in the Primera Division standings, were necessarily an advantage for his side.

“Madrid, with the quality of its team and the big squad they have, will not be affected by the absences,” Roura said. “I expect a Madrid team that is intense and difficult for us. They will be the Madrid of always, a super-competitive team. For me, the circumstances will make Madrid even more dangerous. With players or missing or without, they have a good squad, they are a great team.”

Aware of how previous clasicos have boiled over regularly during Jose Mourinho’s time in charge at Madrid, Roura said he expected this “competitive” side of their rivals’ approach to stay within the laws of the game.

“Madrid always come out to play football,” he said. “Each team has their own style, with their own characteristics. Madrid with its style, Barca with its style, will play a great game. I do not expect a dirty Madrid. Anything else would be out of place.”

Roura, in charge as Barca boss Tito Vilanova remains in New York receiving medical treatment, said overseeing a clasico was not especially stressful.

“I am taking this calmly and naturally,” he said. “It is just one more game and I am not playing. It is these extraordinary players who will be doing that.”

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Cole’s previous deal was set to expire at the end of the season and at one stage he was expected to leave the Champions League holders.

However the 32-year-old, who had been linked with Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, has agreed fresh terms at the club he joined from Arsenal in 2006.

Cole said on the club’s official website: “I am pleased I will be starting my eighth season at Chelsea.

“I wanted to stay at Chelsea because we are always fighting and challenging for trophies. That desire and the will to want to win things have not gone.”

Cole, who has played 293 games for Chelsea, added: “I have great memories here and I enjoy coming to training every day. The staff are amazing and I enjoy training with the lads.

“I have been able to fulfil nearly all my ambitions at Chelsea. I have won the Champions League, the League, I have won FA Cups here but of course you don’t want to stop winning trophies and being at a big club, you are always fighting to win a trophy.

“Being here for seven years and being at Arsenal before that playing for trophies, you never lose that hunger. I wanted to stay at Chelsea because we are always fighting and challenging for trophies. That desire and the will to want To win things have not gone.”

With Chelsea, Cole has won one Premier League title, four FA Cups, one League Cup and was also part of the team that defeated Bayern Munich in last year’s Champions League final.

Cole said there was a slight sense of trepidation at what might have occurred had he left Chelsea.

Discussing his stay at the club, he said on Chelsea TV: “It’s gone quick. After six or seven years and the trophies I’ve won here and the great memories I’ve got here it was a little bit scary and sad thinking I could have left. But I’m glad to have signed and stay here for another year.”

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Recent months have seen the Madrid based media, in particular sports dailies AS and Marca, take an increasingly hard line on Mourinho, including some very heavy criticism of his both his professional and personal behaviour, which has included rows with Madrid reserve team coach Alberto Toril, goalkeeper Iker Casillas and Marca journalist Anton Meana.

Pique told journalists after training at Barcelona’s Ciutat Deportiva on Monday morning that he felt the storm of criticism had more to do with Madrid losing games on the pitch than any moral stance taken by the journalists.

“It makes me laugh because I remember that when Madrid won, Mourinho was allowed do anything,” Pique said. “He came here and poked Tito in the eye. How many games was he banned for? Zero. Now that Mourinho is taking on Iker, that he locked up a journalist [to yell at him], there is criticism. Mourinho has always been like this, ever since he arrived. He was allowed do anything.”

Pique also included Catalan papers such as Mundo Deportivo and Sport in his comments, saying that he did not think the media should just be a cheerleader for ‘their’ team.

“I do not think the press should act like this,” he said. “I am just saying this for Barcelona, but also for Madrid. Barca do not do everything well. But if you look at the front pages of Mundo Deportivo and Sport, it seems like the club does everything well. I say the same for both sides, for Madrid and for Barcelona.”

Pique also believes that injuries and suspensions were to blame for Madrid’s 0-0 draw at Osasuna on Saturday night, not bad coaching from Mourinho or a bad attitude from the players.

“It did not look to me like Madrid had thrown in La Liga,” he said. “They went without four or five very important players. I believe they had the right attitude. Madrid have never based their game on playing great football. They have intensity and ambition. They ‘eat up’ their opponent. You could see they missed their injured players.”

Barcelona took advantage of Madrid’s latest stumble to open up an 18 point gap on their rivals with Sunday’s 3-1 in Malaga, a game which completed a first half of the La Liga season with 18 wins and one draw in 19 games.

Pique said it was impossible to really say whether Tito Vilanova’s Barca side were better than that of Pep Guardiola in recent seasons, and anyway this year’s side had won nothing yet.

“There will be opinions for every taste,” he said. “I think we are playing really well. We have been at our most comfortable in these last games. But what counts is trying to win the three trophies (La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League). That is what we did with Pep (in 2008-09) and we will try to do it with Tito.”

Pique also suggested that the current Barca team had more tactical options than in previous seasons.

“We can play in various ways,” he said. “Tito has gone with more midfielders in the last games. The first year we won the treble we had a settled team, but I feel this year the team has more options. This year we have a very competitive squad.”

Such flexibility would be useful as Barca face into a busy spell, starting with Wednesday’s Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg at home to Malaga.

“The Copa del Rey and the Champions League will help us keep our rhythm going,” he added. “We are starting into Copa, Liga, Copa, and it will be non-stop. It is best for us to play every three days than every weekend. That everyone plays is very good for the team.”

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“I want to see out my contract at Real Madrid: I’m very clear about that. After that, well, I don’t know what’ll happen in the future,” Ronaldo said in an interview with FIFA.com.

Ronaldo was serving a suspension and did not play on Saturday against Osasuna. Real Madrid was held to a 0-0 draw, leaving the team 18 points behind leaders Barcelona at the halfway point of the La Liga season.

Retaining the league title is unlikely, Ronaldo admitted.

“We have not started the championship very well, for sure,” Ronaldo said. “We know that La Liga is an uphill struggle for us now, but nothing is impossible in football. We are going to work hard, win games and see what happens. And, of course, there is the Champions League and the Copa del Rey too. There is plenty for us to win this season.”

Ronaldo also acknowledged that he feels even more pressure to play well at Real Madrid than he did when he was under contract for Manchester United.

“I’ve been here for 3½ years now and I think that’s the case because everyone involved is totally focused on winning the club’s 10th European Cup. That creates a certain amount of anxiety, which can be felt at all times,” Ronaldo said, adding that he thinks the pressure sometimes gets to the team. “But we have to try and rise above it and not let what people say get to us, particularly the media, as Real Madrid get spoken about every day. At the end of the day it comes down to an individual decision, whether you want to read the papers or not. I don’t think what the papers say matters too much, so there’s no need to overdramatize the issue.”

Ronaldo defended coach Jose Mourinho’s style.

“People do protest and you have to respect that, though I think they should be a bit patient with him. To me it’s very clear that Mourinho always wants what’s best for the club and will fight to the death to defend it,” he said. “In my view he’s the best coach in the world, he’s got loads of experience and has won everything there is to win.”

Real Madrid hosts Valencia in Tuesday’s Copa del Rey quarterfinal first leg, where Ronaldo will likely see action, along with Mesut Ozil, Karim Benzema and Ricardo Carvalho.

Regarding February’s Champions League last-16 match against his former club Manchester United, Ronaldo said he saw the ties as a difficult step towards a 10th European Cup for Madrid.

“Every Madridista wants that 10th European Cup — we are more than aware of that,” he said. “Last season we fell just short, which was very frustrating. The fact we face Manchester United next makes it more difficult. It is not going to be easy and I reckon the odds are about 50-50, but I am still very confident.”

Despite last week’s rumors he is being courted by Paris Saint Germain, Ronaldo gave no indication of the “sadness” he reported last September that sparked the speculation about his future.

“I’m doing something I like, something that I enjoy,” he said. “I know how fortunate I am and I feel very fulfilled.”

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