Madrid host dark horses Galatasaray

Real Madrid CF hope to close in on a record 24th semi-final appearance when they welcome Galatasaray AŞ to Spain but the visitors' excellent away form offers them hope.

• The number 24 is also on Galatasaray minds, however – it is that many years since the Istanbul club last reached the last four of the European Cup. However, having won at FC Schalke 04 in the last 16, they will arrive in the Spanish capital with no lack of confidence.

• Madrid will have similarly gained extra belief from their success against Manchester United FC as they set sights on a tenth European crown. Yet home coach José Mourinho will know better than to underestimate a Galatasaray side whose visit sets up reunions with Didier Drogba, whom he signed for Chelsea FC, and another former charge, Wesley Sneijder.

Past meetings
• The clubs' three previous encounters all took place in 2000/01, starting with Galatasaray's 2-1 triumph in the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco. Although Raúl González's 79th-minute penalty cancelled out an earlier Mário Jardel (41) spot kick, Jardel's second after 102 minutes secured Galatasaray a second European honour three months after their UEFA Cup triumph – a historic first for a Turkish team.

• A Galatasaray side coached by Mircea Lucescu made life awkward for Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals later that season, coming from behind to win the first leg 3-2 in Istanbul on 3 April 2001 – 12 years to the day before this game. Iván Helguera (33) and Claude Makelele (43) put Madrid ahead but Galatasaray responded through Ümit Davala's penalty (47), Hasan Şaş (66) and Jardel (75).

• Vicente del Bosque's Madrid shrugged off that loss with a 3-0 win back in the Spanish capital as Raúl (15, 37) and Helguera (28) took the defending champions through to a semi-final they would lose against FC Bayern München.

• The lineups for that Santiago Bernabéu meeting on 18 April 2001 were:
Madrid: Casillas, Salgado, Hierro, Karanka, Roberto Carlos (Solari 90), McManaman, Helguera, Makelele, Figo (Sávio 86), Guti (Flávio Conceição 75), Raúl.
Galatasaray: Taffarel, Fatih Aykel, Bülent Korkmaz, Emre Aşık, Okan Buruk, Ümit Davala, Suat Kaya (Bülent Akin 45), Emre Belözoğlu, Hagi, Hasan Şaş (Arif Erdem 67), Jardel.

• Iker Casillas and Aitor Karanka, now Madrid's assistant coach, are the only survivors of those meetings 12 seasons ago.

Match background
• Madrid's European pedigree means they start as favourites and their home record in the UEFA Champions League under Mourinho is another source of optimism. The Merengues have won two and drawn two at home this term and overall have won 13 and lost just one of 16 European home outings during Mourinho's three campaigns in charge.

• Galatasaray can draw confidence themselves from an impressive run of form on their travels in Europe. Since losing at Manchester United FC on matchday one, they have posted successive victories at CFR 1907 Cluj, SC Braga and Schalke and have lost just two of their last 18 European away fixtures, winning ten.

• Galatasaray are competing at this stage for the first time since that 2001 quarter-final against Madrid, and they are looking to reach only their second European Cup semi-final; the first occasion came under Mustafa Denizli in 1988/89 when they fell to FC Steaua Bucureşti in the last four. Their quarter-final record is W1 L3.

• Madrid, by contrast, are aiming for a 24th semi-final appearance. No other team have competed in as many quarter-finals – this is their 30th and they have won all but six.

• Mourinho has a 100% record in UEFA Champions League quarter-finals having won at this stage with FC Porto (2004), Chelsea (2005, 2007), FC Internazionale Milano (2010) and his present club in 2011 and 2012.

• Besides their aforementioned encounters with Galatasaray, Madrid's only other experience of Turkish opposition came in the 1958/59 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round, when they beat Beşiktaş JK 2-0 at home en route to a 3-1 aggregate success.

• Galatasaray's record in Spain is W1 D4 L7. Their solitary victory came under Fatih Terim in the quarter-finals of their 1999/2000 UEFA Cup campaign – a 4-1 first-leg win at RCD Mallorca. That also remains their only success against Liga opposition in five two-legged ties.

• Galatasaray last visited Spain's capital for a 1-1 draw at Club Atlético de Madrid in the 2009/10 UEFA Cup round of 32, a tie they eventually lost 3-2 on aggregate.

Team ties
• Mourinho's only past encounter with a Turkish team came when his Porto side overcame Denizlispor in the fourth round of their triumphant 2002/03 UEFA Cup campaign, winning 6-1 at home before a 2-2 away draw.

• Mourinho worked with Drogba at Chelsea from 2004 to 2007 and together they won Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006. Drogba played alongside Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien at Stamford Bridge.

• Terim's record as a coach against Spanish clubs is W3 D2 L5. As Turkey coach, his team was beaten 1-0 by Spain at the Bernabéu in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on 28 March 2009. Hakan Balta and substitute Sabri Sarıoğlu featured against a Spain side including Casillas, Raúl Albiol, Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso.

• Four days later on 1 April 2009, Terim's side lost out to Spain again. After trailing to Semih Şentürk's first-half effort at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Spain replied through Alonso's 63rd-minute penalty and an added-time winner by Albert Riera, now a Galatasaray player.

• Terim took Turkey to the UEFA EURO 2008 semi-finals but only after an opening defeat by a Portugal side featuring Carvalho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe, scorer of the first goal. Pepe will have less fond memories of his own goal when Portugal lost a home friendly 3-1 to Turkey in June 2012 – Umut Bulut scoring twice.

• Sneijder spent 2007/08 and 2008/09 at Madrid, making 52 Liga appearances and scoring 11 goals. He also won the 2010 UEFA Champions League final at the Bernabéu with Mourinho's Inter. Sneijder was in the Netherlands team beaten 1-0 by the Spain of Casillas, Alonso and Ramos in the 2010 World Cup final.

• Hamit Altıntop made five Liga appearances for Madrid last season, scoring once.

• Mesut Özil played with Altıntop at Madrid and also Schalke in 2006/07. Özil has Turkish parents but scored in Germany's 3-0 win against a Turkey side including Altıntop in a UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier also featuring Sami Khedira.

• Riera faced Madrid seven times with Mallorca and RCD Espanyol, scoring twice and achieving a creditable record of W3 D2 L2. As a Liverpool FC player he was a team-mate of Álvaro Arbeloa and Alonso and featured in a 1-0 win at the Bernabéu in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League round of 16.

• Cris went seven UEFA Champions League matches unbeaten as an Olympique Lyonnais player against Madrid – including a last-16 success in 2009/10 – before that sequence ended with a 3-0 away loss in the 2010/11 last 16.

• Felipe Melo was in Spain from 2004 to 2008, playing for Mallorca, Real Racing Club and UD Almería. He scored for Racing in a 2-1 Liga victory away to Madrid in December 2005.

• Emmanuel Eboué appeared in Arsenal FC's 1-0 first-leg success at Madrid in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League last 16.

• Johan Elmander scored past Casillas when Sweden beat Spain 2-0 in a UEFA EURO 2008 qualifier in October 2006.

• Karim Benzema's penalty earned France a 1-0 home friendly win against Turkey in June 2009.

Source: BBC Sports