José Mourinho clear to rejoin Chelsea as Real Madrid confirm his exit

Chelsea will not have to pay compensation for José Mourinho after Real Madrid confirmed that the Portuguese manager will leave the Bernabéu at the end of the season by mutual consent.

Nothing now stands in the way of Chelsea and Mourinho formalising an agreement that was reached in principle months ago.

The 50-year-old, whose position at Madrid had become untenable, has long been preparing for next season at Stamford Bridge – preparations that include contacting potential signings.

Chelsea hope to confirm his reappointment in the middle of next month.Madrid's president, Florentino Pérez, called a meeting with Mourinho at the club's Valdebebas training ground on Monday morning during which the two agreed to bring an end to the coach's contract, which was due to expire in 2016, after the final game of the season on 1 June.

That decision was then ratified by the board in the afternoon and made public at a press conference at the Bernabéu at 8pm. Pérez said that no compensation would be payable either by coach or club.Madrid's president said: "No one has been sacked." He also said that he would have liked Mourinho to have continued but that the pressure at Real Madrid meant that the time had come to end the relationship.

Hmmmmmmmm!

Real Madrid survive second-half Galatasaray surge to reach semi-finals

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid foiled a dramatic fightback by Galatasaray to reach the Champions league semi-finals. Ronaldo, top scorer in the competition, took his goal tally for the season to 11 to make sure that José Mourinho's side went through despite losing the second leg 3-2.

Real went ahead on the night, and four goals to the good overall, when Ronaldo slid the ball in from two yards following a low cross from the right by Sami Khedira after eight minutes.

However, Emmanuel Eboué galvanised Galatasaray into action with a piledriver of an equaliser from the edge of the area in the 57th minute.

Wesley Sneijder made amends for a glaring miss moments earlier when he added a second by sending the ball between the legs of the Real defender Raphael Varane before supplying a neat finish. Didier Drogba, Chelsea's hero in last year's final, then sent the noisy crowd into raptures with a delightful backheel following a cross by the substitute Nordin Amrabat.

The Real substitute Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off in the closing stages for a second yellow card but Ronaldo settled his team's nerves by adding his second of the night in stoppage time, after good work by the striker Karim Benzema.