Cristiano Ronaldo admitted Real Madrid only had themselves to blame after surviving a second-half scare against Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League.
Already leading 3-0 from last week's first leg, Ronaldo's eighth-minute strike looked to have Jose Mourinho's men comfortably through to the semi-finals.
But three goals in 15 second-half minutes from Emmanuel Eboue, Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba set up a tense finale.
Real substitute Alvaro Arbeloa saw red for two bookings before Ronaldo scored again in the closing seconds to seal a 5-3 aggregate success despite a 3-2 defeat on the night.
"It is our own fault it became complicated," the Portugal sensation told Spanish TV station TVE.
"In football you cannot gift anything. Today that is what happened and it ought to serve as an example for the future to play for 90 minutes."
Ronaldo scored his 47th and 48th goals of another stunning season to ensure Real's name will be in the hat for Friday's semi-final draw.
He added: "The team is fine, they gave me good passes and I did my job, which is to score goals.
"We are very happy to have qualified. We have achieved our objective and now we wait to see who we will play next."
At Vale Park, Jennison Myrie-Williams put the hosts ahead on the stroke of half-time but they paid the price for not adding more goals and Paul McCallum came off the bench to grab a potentially vital point for the visitors.
Aldershot lie one point from potential safety.
Burton edged into the third and final automatic promotion spot with a 2-0 home win over Wycombe.
Congolese midfielder Jacques Maghoma scored both goals, after 49 and 68 minutes.
Rotherham were emphatic 4-1 winners over Exeter at the New York Stadium.
Ben Pringle got the ball rolling in the first minute for the Millers, with Daniel Nardiello (28), Michael O'Connor (30) and Craig Morgan (51) also notching before Danny Coles' consolation in the 77th minute.
Bradford triumphed by the same scoreline at home to Bristol Rovers.
Nahki Wells scored twice, including a penalty, with Andrew Davies and Garry Thompson also on target for the Bantams, who moved above Exeter into the play-off zone as a result.
Liam Noble struck twice for the Cumbrians as they dealt Donny a bloody nose at the Keepmoat Stadium.
Rovers were looking to extend their lead over Bournemouth to five points but instead came unstuck as former Sunderland midfielder Noble hit a 35th-minute free-kick and followed up with a long-range strike four minutes from time.
Promotion-hopefuls Sheffield United were off colour at Bramall Lane, going down 2-0 to Crawley.
Billy Clarke put the visitors ahead in the 77th minute and substitute Paul Hayes added a second seven minutes later.
MK Dons increased their chances of breaking into the play-offs at the expense of sixth-placed Swindon, who they defeated 2-0.
Mathias Kouo-Doumbe (58) and Ryan Lowe (89) were the Dons' scorers.
Oldham slipped deeper into relegation trouble as Preston secured the points in a 2-0 victory at Deepdale.
Nicky Wroe's 11th goal of the season, from the penalty spot, and Will Hayhurst's goal at the death took North End's unbeaten home run to six, while Oldham remain above the drop zone on goal difference over Scunthorpe.
