Former Real Madrid striker Raul made a goalscoring return to Spain to earn current club Schalke a 1-1 draw at Valencia in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 clash.
• Valencia 1-1 Schalke
• AC Milan 0-1 Tottenham
Raul's close range equaliser cancelled out Roberto Soldado's early opener for Valencia and took his European tally to a record-breaking 71 goals.
And while Valencia goalscorer Soldado said he was unhappy that his side had been unable to fight back following Raul's 63rd minute strike, he heaped praise on 33-year-old's quality in front of goal.
"We knew they were dangerous and had quality players in attack," said Soldado after the game. "You can't give Raul a metre, if he has a chance he does what he did to us. We are an ambitious team and we had hoped for a more positive result, but we have done so much to get here that we are not going to give up now."
Valencia coach Unai Emery added: "If it hadn't hurt us so much we would be the first to congratulate him. I think both teams deserved credit. Vicente Guaita made a lot of saves for us but in the end they managed to score. We also missed a lot of chances."
However, Schalke coach Felix Magath was delighted with the way his side fought back and said that the result was fully justified based on the Germans' performance.
"It was a deserved draw. We came out very well for the match and deserved the goal. We performed and played well," he told Kicker.
"We controlled the game in the second half. Victory would have been a better result, but I'm satisfied with the draw."
GettyImagesRaul slots home his 70th goal.
• AC Milan 0-1 Tottenham
Raul's close range equaliser cancelled out Roberto Soldado's early opener for Valencia and took his European tally to a record-breaking 71 goals.
And while Valencia goalscorer Soldado said he was unhappy that his side had been unable to fight back following Raul's 63rd minute strike, he heaped praise on 33-year-old's quality in front of goal.
"We knew they were dangerous and had quality players in attack," said Soldado after the game. "You can't give Raul a metre, if he has a chance he does what he did to us. We are an ambitious team and we had hoped for a more positive result, but we have done so much to get here that we are not going to give up now."
Valencia coach Unai Emery added: "If it hadn't hurt us so much we would be the first to congratulate him. I think both teams deserved credit. Vicente Guaita made a lot of saves for us but in the end they managed to score. We also missed a lot of chances."
However, Schalke coach Felix Magath was delighted with the way his side fought back and said that the result was fully justified based on the Germans' performance.
"It was a deserved draw. We came out very well for the match and deserved the goal. We performed and played well," he told Kicker.
"We controlled the game in the second half. Victory would have been a better result, but I'm satisfied with the draw."
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