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In the aftermath of Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Valencia at Mestalla, Schalke goalscorer, Raúl said he was upbeat about his side’s chances of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.
Roberto Soldado put the hosts ahead on 17 minutes, but once more Raul levelled the scores on 64 minutes to set up an intriguing second leg in Germany in three weeks time.
“It’s a positive feeling to come away from a tough ground like Mestalla [with a draw] against a good Valencia side who admittedly were better than us for parts of the match,” the 33-year-old told UEFA.com.
“Their early goal meant that initially we struggled to impose our game on them, but little by little we clawed our way into it and then in the second half we clearly had enough chances to have scored more goals.
“However, if anyone misjudges Valencia and thinks an away draw is sufficient to put us through, I’d say: ‘Watch out.’ We turned this match on its head after going 1-0 down. We could have won but generally it was pretty even and I think the next tie will be more of the same. We will need 90 very intense minutes of our best football to convert this into a pass to the next round – especially as Valencia can be a very dangerous team away from home.”
Raúl, with three winners’ medals from this competition, knows the recipe for success.
“The key is to play an intense second leg,” he continued. “A 0-0 draw puts us through, it’s true, but Valencia are more than capable of creating chances in Germany and scoring an away goal.”
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