Casillas : "We should look ahead"

"We played well and had chances to score. Bayern Munchen are a good team and we wish to congratulate them and wish them luck. It was a vibrant match. Penalty shootouts are like the lottery and we lost due to bad luck. That's all there is to it."

"We have to thank everyone here for their support. It's been a harsh blow and it's hard to get back on our feet after tonight, but we must carry on and focus on what remains of the season. We should have fought harder to keep the 2-0 score, but we can't ask more of the team than it did tonight."

Mourinho's press conference after Bayern Munich match

"I think it's difficult for any team to reach the semifinals two straight campaigns and it's also difficult for a coach to reach them six times in eight years. We deserved to win because both games were tight. It is more difficult to play this match when you're still in the fight to win the league title than when you're not. I remember the semifinals I lost with Chelsea against Liverpool. They faced Fulham in the previous clash with their reserve players, while we used our main men in our weekend clash and ended up suffering from that."

"It's our fault because we would have used different players in our previous game if we weren't fighting to win the league title. My men gave a fantastic performance. It is difficult to overcome a 2-1 result. They knew they couldn't make any mistakes and felt great pressure. They were also exhausted in the penalty shootout. Together, both sides missed five penalties. Only those who shoot miss. I don't miss because I don't shoot them. Those who miss have balls and aren't selfish. They do their best for the team. I am incredibly proud of my men."

"Everyone makes mistakes. Superhumans only exist in the movies. These men are the best at their level, but people criticise them when they miss a shot. These critics are like people who get exhausted by climbing two flights of stairs and badly need a lift. My men ran like animals despite the pressure and missed in the final stretch, but what do you expect them to do? Would you rather see them die or see Bayern drawing the match? They played to the limit. I'm not here to make excuses, especially for our opponent. Teams that win two or three titles in one season achieve something incredible, but it is very difficult to reach the semifinals in two consecutive campaigns."

"The final will be disputed between the fifth team in the Premier League and the runners-up in the Bundesliga, and both used their reserve players this weekend, while Real Madrid and Barcelona faced each other in the most important match of the season in the Spanish league. People listened to me when I said the calendar had to be adjusted in these circumstances in Italy, and it made me happy. I don't have that power or enjoy such respect for my opinions here in Spain. We've started the most important month of the season with mid-week games and it's resulted in yesterday's and tonight's results. Bayern won and were luckier than us."

"The squad feels proud. The players know they have nothing to be sorry for. I've told them to go home to their wives and girlfriends and not hide because they have nothing to be ashamed about. I will absolutely try to win this title again with this team. I want to win with these players. It was important for the club and for us to win the Copa del Rey last season. We need six points to win the league and it would be fantastic to do so. This team has great room for improvement and so does the club. Clubs have to adapt to the times. If they believe I can continue to add to the team by staying on, and my players believe so too, then I feel I will stay."

"I feel the pressure of knowing my players are subjected to great pressure. I currently enjoy the joy of others more than my own, and the same goes during bad times. That's why this hurts. These players have worked very hard. There are four games left in the season and we have to take the six points we need like we've done till now: on our own. We worked hard and fought mightily. We will have had a good season if we win the league title and it will allow my men to feel they've done a good job. We will be here fighting for the Champions League again next season."

"The final will be a good match and I would like Chelsea to win, but I have great respect for Bayern Munchen. Chelsea were heroic yesterday and I know some people believe they are the lords of the game and therefore entitled to criticise Chelsea or Inter Milan's victory two years ago. I know the Blues behaved like heroes. Chelsea deserve it and Bayern are there too."

Mourinho press conference before Bayern Munich Match

"Every player has to know that Real Madrid reaching the final is more important than them being there," the Portuguese told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.

“Players can't be selfish. I would take a suspension now so that we make a final. A player has to be the same.”

However, Mourinho argued that each and every member of his squad warrants the right to grace May's showpiece event at the Allianz Arena.

"We want and believe that we deserve to be in the final," he declared. "Now we just have to do it.

"But Bayern are a very good team: the coach, the players. They all have the right to think they can reach the final.

"However, when I look at my players all I see is excitement. We want to win and that's the most important thing. Tomorrow [Wednesday], we are going to try to reach the final. These players deserve it."

Madrid's much-vaunted forwards were not at their best in Munich last Tuesday but Mourinho is expecting them to be firing on all cylinders in the Spanish capital.

"Bayern know the offensive potential that Real Madrid have and that it is normal that we score at home," the two-time Champions League winner argued.

"We will stick to our style of play and philosophy to the end. We know what we want to do.

"The most important thing is knowing the character of the players and what they are capable of and our players are as calm as they have to be for a match like this."

Madrid's eagerly awaited clash with Bayern gets under way at 20.45CET.

Real Madrid look to sign Franck Ribéry

Real Madrid want to sign Franck Ribéry from Bayern Munich during the close season, according to the club's president Florentino Pérez. "It would be a huge satisfaction to have Ribéry with us as soon as next season," Perez told the French daily L'Equipe today. "But we first have to talk to his club Bayern Munich. I will get in touch with my friends Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeness to ask them what they want to do with Ribéry. I'll tell them this player is one of our targets and that I want to discuss his possible move to Real."

Pérez added he was "very optimistic" about signing the Brazilian Kaka from Milan after he held talks with the Serie A side and the player's father this week. "If Kaka leaves Milan, he will join Real Madrid," Pérez said.

The Real chairman also said he tried to convince Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, to join the nine-time European champions before naming Manuel Pellegrini as Real's new coach. "We have always liked the Frenchman and we talked a lot with him," Pérez said. "But he feels very responsible of what is going on and of what is going to happen next at Arsenal. He did not want to leave this club which he has given a lot to."