Mourinho - 'We thought playing Manchester was tough but this really is tough'

Jose Mourinho spoke to Real
Madrid TV about his opinion of Los
Blanco's Champions League
opponents - Galatasaray.
"We need to make sure we go into
the match in Istanbul with a small
advantage from the first leg,"
Mourinho said speaking to
Realmadrid TV.
"Real Madrid can never be happy
to get into the quarter finals and
we always have to look to go
further.
"Galatasaray are not just there
because they made it through
the Group Stage but also
because they made it through a
knock-out round.
"It is a competition that a lot of
teams start and now there are
only eight left, and the ones
that are left are there for a
reason.
"The draw is not something to
get nervous about because there
is not much to choose between
the teams.
"Whichever one you get, even
though obviously they have
different statuses, you know
that it will not be an easy task.
That is why I was so calm. We
got Galatasaray, another
champion.
"We always get the champions
and it is the fourth one we have
had this season, apart from
Manchester United. We were
already working on our potential
opponents, we followed them all
in the last-16 and we sent the
people who work with me to see
every one of those matches.
"I already had some information
in my hands, even if some
people say that I don’t like
working when they see me
watching one of my son’s
training sessions."
The Real Madrid manager also
spoke about his weekend trip to
Turkey where he attended
Galatasaray's game against
Kayserispor.
Mourinho said, "I don’t like free
time; I like to work. So on
Sunday, when everyone was off,
I went to Turkey and I found
what I had expected: a team of
people who know the Champions
League very well and which has
two players who have won the
Champions League, Drogba and
Sneijder, people who have played
for the best teams, like Eboue
for Arsenal, Felipe Melo for
Juventus, Riera for Liverpool and
Muslera for Lazio…
"People who know what it is like
to play at this level, with a lot of
experience, who have a coach
who is the best ever in Turkey,
and who has also worked in
Italy, and a level of support that
other teams don’t have.
"We thought that Dortmund and
Manchester were tough, but this
really is tough. They played 700
kilometres from Istanbul and
there were 15,000 Galatasaray
fans.
"It will be tough but we need to
try to get something positive
from the first match, something
we didn’t manage against
Manchester United. We have to
make sure we go there with a
small advantage."
Real Madrid will face Galatasaray in
the Champions League quarter-
finals, the first leg will be played in
the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on
3 April 2013.