Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo lamented the "gifts" his side gave to Galatasaray, which led to the Spanish side having to hold on in the end in the second leg Champions League quarterfinal, while Jose Mourinho was just relieved to see his side through to the semis.
Ronaldo scored twice, early on and towards the end, to give Real a 5-3 aggregate win, although they lost 3-2 on the night.
What was expected to be a stroll in the park, turned out to be anything but, as second half goals from Emmanuel Eboue, Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba put the tie back in the balance, before Ronaldo's intervention in stoppage time.
"It is our own fault it became complicated," Ronaldo told Spanish TV station TVE.
"In football you cannot gift anything. Today (Tuesday) that is what happened and it ought to serve as an example for the future to play for 90 minutes.
"We are very happy to have qualified. We have achieved our objective and now we wait to see who we will play next."
Real manager Mourinho felt his side were up against not just 11 men on the pitch, but another 50,000 as well as the partisan Gala crowd spurred on their team wonderfully well.
"I had no time to be nervous," he said. "I don't have time to feel nervous on the sidelines. I know (Galatasaray) are strong. Mentally they are strong.
"They did not play with 11 men today, they played with 50,000 -- incredible supporters. It was hard and they deserved to win.
"At 1-0 we missed an open goal to make it two, and then the match is totally over and we win the tie. They go and score, and then get two goals in two minutes, and because of their style it was very hard for us.
"But at 3-1, I put Raul Albiol in front of the defence and things started to calm down. We are in the semifinals and that is all that matters.
"In this kind of match we had everything to lose but nothing to gain. I have always felt these players are ready to work and have great motivation to get to the finish line and play in the final.
"Now we have a semifinal to play, against a great team. We do not know which one yet, but they will be great. It will be hard, yet now is the time to enjoy ourselves and not be nervous or afraid."
Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim said his side could hold their heads up high after the commendable performance against one of the tournament favorites.
"Our fans were magnificent," he said. "There was a fantastic atmosphere here in the stadium. When they enjoy the game, we do too.
"Maybe we couldn't knock Real Madrid out of the competition but we deserve the respect of the whole world. I hope they win the Champions League so then we can say we lost to the champions."
