Raul strikes give Schalke draw in spain.

Raul marked his first match in
Spain since leaving Real
Madrid with a trademark
poacher's strike to rescue a
1-1 draw for Schalke 04 in
their Champions League
last-16, first leg in Valencia
on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old striker,
who netted Real's third goal
in a 3-0 win over Valencia in
the 2000 final, scored just
after the hour to cancel out a
17th-minute effort from
another former Bernabeu
favourite, Roberto Soldado.
His goal extended Raul's
record tally in the three
major European club
competitions to 69 and came
on his return to his native
country after swapping La
Liga for the Bundesliga at the
end of last season.
"If it hadn't hurt us so much
we would be the first to
congratulate him," Valencia
coach Unai Emery told a news
conference.
"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."
Valencia controlled play for
long periods at the Mestalla
but squandered a number of
openings and will be
disappointed not to have
converted their superiority
into an advantage for next
month's second leg.
SCHMITZ OFF
Schalke will be without
defender Lukas Schmitz for
the return game in
Gelsenkirchen after he was
sent off for a second caution
deep into stoppage time.
Raul and Soldado were two of
four former Real players on
the pitch, with Netherlands
striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
and German defender
Christoph Metzelder also
featuring for Schalke.
After a cautious start from
both teams, Huntelaar fluffed
a chance to put the visitors
ahead when he failed to
connect with an attempted
close-range volley in the
ninth minute.
It was Metzelder's mistake
that led to Valencia taking
the lead as he surrendered
possession in a dangerous
position and Jeremy Mathieu
crossed for Soldado to clip
the ball past keeper Manuel
Neuer from six metres.
Raul, who spent 16 years in
Real's first team, then found
space inside the penalty
area and drove a low, left-
footed shot across keeper
Vicente Guaita into the far
corner of the net.
The veteran forward broke
Gerd Mueller's 34-year-old
European club competition
record of 66 with a double
against Hapoel Tel Aviv in
the group stages in October.
Raul has scored his 69 goals
in 137 Champions League
matches while former German
international Mueller needed
just 74 games in the
European Cup, Cup Winners'
Cup and Uefa/Fairs Cup for
his 66.
"They have some very high
quality players up front and
we knew they would pose a
threat," Soldado told Spanish
television.
"I hope my goal helps us
make it into the next round.
It cost us too much to make it
this far to give up now."
Teams
Valencia: 13-Vicente
Guaita; 23-Miguel Monteira,
4-David Navarro, 20-
Ricardo Costa, 22-Jeremy
Mathieu (28-Jordi Alba 78);
21-Ever Banega (14-Vicente
68), 5-Mehmet Topal, 24-
Tino Costa; 8-Alejandro
Dominguez (7-Joaquin 68),
9-Roberto Soldado, 11-Aritz
Aduriz.
Schalke 04: 1-Manuel
Neuer; 22-Atsuto Uchida, 4-
Benedikt Hoewedes, 21-
Christoph Metzelder, 13-
Lukas Schmitz; 17-Jefferson
Farfan (31-Julian Draxler
78), 12-Peer Kluge, 32-Joel
Matip, 18-Jose Manuel
Jurado (9-Edu 83); 7-Raul,
25-Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (8-
Hao Junmin 90).
Referee: Aleksei Nikolaev
(Russia)