Valencia vs Schalke preview - Raul relishing Spanish return

Posted Tuesday, February 15, 2011 by PA

Schalke striker Raul is looking forward to the trip to the Estadio Mestalla where he will make his first appearance on Spanish soil since leaving Real Madrid after 16 years last summer.

The 33-year-old will spearhead the Royal Blues' attack against Valencia in this Champions League last-16 tie, which will bring back fond memories for the competition's highest goalscorer of all time with 69 strikes.

"I am really looking forward to it," he said. "I won the Champions League final with Real in 2000 with a 3-0 win over Valencia, and I scored a goal in that game.

"I particularly like to look back on that duel."

Schalke manager Felix Magath would gladly accept a goal from Raul as he looks to equal a club record by reaching the quarter-finals of the competition.

And he knows that it will be a big night for his Spanish striker.

"He is an idol in Spain," he said. "He has a far different profile here to what he has in Germany.

"That will certainly give him a buzz."

Schalke's charge to the last eight of the Champions League in 2008 was ended by another Spanish side, Barcelona, but Raul feels the Bundesliga has come on leaps and bounds since then and that Schalke are not necessarily outsiders in this tie.

"I am very optimistic," he said on his club's website. "Valencia are without a doubt one of the biggest clubs in Spain and they have always been able to qualify for the Champions League in recent years, but I still think that we have a good chance of reaching the next round.

"Our team has shown in the group phase what it is capable of and we also have the advantage of staging the second leg at the Arena AufSchalke.

"Our fans are always a decisive factor in such games."

Raul is not the only former Real Madrid player among the Schalke ranks with Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Christoph Metzelder also included in Magath's 19-man squad, which does not included the injured Kyriakos Papadopoulos or Anthony Annan, who is ineligible having appeared for his former club Rosenborg in the competition this season.

Valencia go into the match in a rich vein of form having won seven of their last eight league matches.

Saturday's 2-1 comeback victory over Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon lifted Unai Emery's men up to third in the Primera Division standings and they are now two points above fourth-placed Villarreal.

Holland international Hedwiges Maduro said: "We are on a fantastic run and we have a lot of confidence right now."

Turning his attention to the clash with Schalke, Maduro added: "It's a very important game, the whole of Europe watches these games and we are going to try to win and get a good result."

Valencia centre-back Ricardo Costa, who joined Los Che last summer, should know all about Schalke and their coach having played for Bundesliga side Wolfsburg for three years from 2007. Magath was Costa's coach for the first two of those years.

The Portugal international has highlighted the threat posed by former Madrid duo Raul and Huntelaar, but also believes Jefferson Farfan needs to be closely watched. Costa also hailed Schalke's battling spirit.

"Raul, along with Huntelaar, are the stars of the team, but we can't forget about Farfan. However, Schalke's main strength is that they work for the whole 90 minutes, they are good from set-pieces and on the counter-attack, and are physically very powerful," he said.

"We want to win, we must remember that there are two games and we need to try and score at home and avoid conceding."

Costa also urged the Valencia fans to play their part at the Mestalla, adding: "If we play with a good atmosphere, we will have a better chance. We have to be focused, play our football, play well and have a little luck."