Real Madrid continue to stalk the trophy with the big ears.

Jose Mourinho's players move on unhurt and perhaps even a little wiser for the shake-up they received after Galatasaray scored three of the five second-half goals they needed for a historic revival in Istanbul. With their domestic title surrendered, this club's obsession with the European Cup is now unobscured.

No other club has such a history with this competition: they hold a record nine titles and last night earned a record 24th semi-final appearance, but such a staging post has never counted for much at the club who co-habited with the trophy for its first five years.

Now they have a manager whose history is also tied with the Champions League. Jose Mourinho threw the medal he won with Porto away to take up the chase with Chelsea. His failure to bring the trophy to Roman Abramovich was cited in their divorce; his success with Inter Milan established him again as the go-to guy for the big prize.

This has been his challenge with Madrid and this seems certain to be his final spin at it. Last night, we were reminded that he is armed with a depth of talent that should stand the rigours of any run-in, especially one with such a singular focus. For all that Galatasaray provided a stirring comeback to bring the tie back from the dead, they never got close enough to go for the kill.

The money in Galatasaray's roster is in the pension fund, paid to the handful of players plucked from bigger leagues because the Turkish club are willing to pay over market value for athletes unwanted by the elite. Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder top the list, but Hamit Altintop, signed from Madrid, Emmanuel Eboue and Felipe Melo are on it also.

By contrast, Madrid could replace the suspended Xabi Alonso with Luka Modric, previously an A-lister in the Barclays Premier League. When Michael Essien was injured in the first half, from the bench came Spain's right-back, Alvaro Arbeloa. Diego Lopez continues to keep out the national team's captain, Iker Casillas, in goal.

The bottom line in this economics lesson was delivered by the most expensive footballer in the history of the sport. Cristiano Ronaldo scored even earlier than he had in the first leg of this tie. He has scored 47 in 47 games this season and may yet end the summer with his stamp on the Champions League.

It took the tournament's top goalscorer seven minutes to deploy the penalty-box game that has all but erased memories of the touchline-tied winger of his youth. As Sami Khedira prepared to cross from the right, Ronaldo's movement between Selcuk Inan and Emmanuel Eboue was audacious and right on the border of offside. He left the shoulder of Inan and then bumped Eboue out of the fight for Khedira's pass, gently diverting it into the net with a flash of his right boot.

Ronaldo had led a devastating break before the goal, swirling between three opponents as if they were plastic poles on the training pitch. After it, he provided a glorious back-heeled pass to give Angel di Maria a clear look at goal and Fernando Musrela made a remarkable save with his left hand.

Not everything he did was exemplary, however, and his stumbling, skewed finish from eight yards in the second half when staring at Musrela displayed a rare fallibility. It also invited a spectacular onslaught from Galatasaray.

Eboue began it with a beauty, thrashed on the run from 20 yards, taking off with both feet as he struck it with the outside of his right boot.

Thirteen minutes later, Sneijder's control in a tight spot was instant and he shot low and hard past Diego Lopez before he could get down.

Then, incredibly, the Ali Sami Yen stadium believed in a miracle. Drogba has made a career of dominating defenders to obtain space inside the box. His latest victim, the rookie Raphael Varane, will have experienced nothing like it. Drogba moved him round like a dancehall partner, earning the space for a high-tariff back-heel shot off Sabri Sarioglu's low cross that rolled into the bottom-left corner of the goal. There were almost 20 minutes left and the home team needed two more.

In the end and despite a red card for Arbeloa, Madrid closed it out. Ronaldo had the final say, whirling on to a cut-back by Karim Benzema.

Istanbul won the day and protected its pride, but last night's action was lit by what happened in Spain last week. There remains the suspicion that at least one of the participants in the Wembley final will come from that country.