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Football: Spurs out to crash Chelsea's top-four party

Juan Mata's decisive strike at Manchester United at the weekend means Chelsea can all but guarantee Champions League qualification by beating fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur at home on Wednesday. The Stamford Bridge showdown looked destined to be a straight shootout for a top-four place until Mata struck with three minutes remaining at Old Trafford on Sunday to give Chelsea a precious 1-0 victory.

British press confident Mourinho will return to Chelsea

London, May 1 (EFE).- Britain's leading newspapers took for granted Wednesday that Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho will return to Chelsea at the end of this season. The 50-year-old Portuguese "Special One" prompted rampant speculation about his future with comments he made after Real Madrid was eliminated Tuesday night from the UEFA Champions League competition by German club Borussia Dortmund in the semifinals. In remarks to Britain's ITV, Mourinho said that he may not be back at the Bernabeu and wants to "be where people love me to be."

Mourinho aghast over Real's handling of Lewandowski

By Karolos Grohmann DORTMUND, Germany (Reuters) - Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho could not understand how his well-drilled side let Robert Lewandowski score four goals in Borussia Dortmund's 4-1 win on Wednesday but vowed that his team could still reach the Champions League final. The nine-times European champions have a huge task on their hands in Tuesday's home second leg after Mourinho acknowledged they had been outplayed in the semi-final first leg in Germany.

Ronaldo, eliminate Galatasaray

Real Madrid reached the Champions League semifinals for the third straight season on Tuesday despite losing 3-2 at Galatasaray following a second-half resurgence by the Turkish team, reports AP. Madrid needed a double from Cristiano Ronaldo to advance 5-3 on aggregate, but only after conceding three goals in a 16-minute span to raise Galatasaray’s hopes of pulling off what would have been a remarkable comeback. Ronaldo looked to have wrapped up the quarterfinal series by scoring in the seventh minute for a 4-0 overall lead, requiring Galatasaray to score at least five goals to

Football: Mourinho cheering PSG against Barca

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said he will be cheering on French league leaders Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League quarter-final, second leg, against Barcelona on Wednesday. PSG face a tough task at the Camp Nou as they look to qualify for the semi-finals having drawn 2-2 at home in the first leg. But they have some star-studded support in the form of Barca's public enemy number one. "I have friends in Paris, I don't have any friends in Barcelona," Mourinho told BeInSport in French when asked who he'd like to see progressing.

Football: Real have everything to lose, says Mourinho

Real Madrid may have a comfortable 3-0 advantage over Galatasaray ahead of Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final, second leg here but coach Jose Mourinho is not resting on his laurels. The Portuguese boss, chasing a third European title with a third different team in a third different country, believes his side face a tricky situation as they have nothing to gain and everything to lose. "If we lose 4-0 or 5-1 or on penalties, the world will open their mouths, it would be a very bad situation for all of us," he said.

Drogba back to where he began for Real clash at Bernabeu stadium

The wheel will have come full circle for Galatasaray forward Didier Drogba when he takes to the pitch for Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal first leg match at Real Madrid. The Cote d'Ivoire international, who turned 35 this month, made his debut in Europe's elite club competition at Real's Bernabeu stadium in September 2003 playing for Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille. Although he scored to put Marseille ahead in the 26th minute, goals from Roberto Carlos and Luis Figo and a double from Brazilian Ronaldo fired Real's “Galacticos” to an easy 4-2 group stage victory.<

Football: Mourinho springs Essien surprise

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho sprung a surprise by dropping Alvaro Arbeloa in favour of Michael Essien at right-back for his side's Champions League quarter-final first-leg against Galatasaray. Otherwise Mourinho named an unchanged side from that which won 2-1 away at Manchester United to book their place in the last eight, with Karim Benzema leading the attack. Diego Lopez kept his place in goal despite Iker Casillas' return from a hand injury and Xabi Alonso also returned after being rested in recent weeks due to an ongoing back problem.

Football: Alves lambasts refereeing in PSG draw

Barcelona defender Dani Alves says his side have to complain more about poor refereeing decisions after only coming away with a 2-2 draw from their Champions League quarter-final first leg with Paris Saint-Germain. The visitors twice took the lead at the Parc des Princes before Blaise Matuidi's goal in stoppage time rescued a draw for the Parisians.

Mourinho defends decision to leave Casillas out again

By Mark Elkington MADRID (Reuters) - Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has defended his decision to leave 2010 World Cup-winning captain Iker Casillas out of his squad again for Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg with Galatasaray. The Spain goalkeeper is fit to train after recovering from a broken finger but will not feature against the Turkish team, having also been omitted for Saturday's 1-1 draw at Real Zaragoza in La Liga.
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