Schalke pay tribute to Raúl, the real deal
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
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FC Schalke 04 boss Felix Magath paid tribute to Raúl González, "a genuine goalscorer", after the ex-Spain forward marked his homecoming with the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Valencia CF.
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FC Schalke 04 coach Felix Magath paid tribute to Raúl González, "a genuine goalscorer", after the former Real Madrid CF favourite marked his return to Spain with the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Valencia CF. It gives them the slenderest of advantages ahead of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg on 9 March but, Unai Emery admits, for the time being attention switches to domestic duties.
Unai Emery, Valencia coach
They managed to equalise so they undoubtedly deserved to do so. If it weren't for the fact that Raúl's goal damaged us I would praise it. [Goalkeeper] Vicente Guaita saved many of their chances but in the end they found a way through. We also missed a string of chances.
It's not the best result for us but it's not the worst either. Schalke have taken a slight advantage. They are a good team and we will have to make defensive adjustments in order to be steadier at the back. We suffered against Raúl and HUntelaar more than we would have liked.
The objective over there will obviously be to suffer less against a physically powerful side. I'm still convinced of our chances to qualify. We're going to prepare for the return leg but right now we must concentrate on the Liga and work hard to seal our return to the Champions League next season.
Felix Magath, Schalke coach
We deserved the draw after what was a good performance today. We were a bit sloppy in terms of converting our chances, otherwise we could have scored a couple more. When you are away in the Champions League you will always allow the opposition a chance or two, but I did not seen too many today.
Valencia's goal was well carved out, but it started when we needlessly lost the ball in the build-up and then everything went so very fast. In certain situations a central defender simply has to punt the ball out; it is not a bad thing.
[Raúl's goal] was no fluke: that's a genuine goalscorer we are seeing here. His marker has to come the long way round and Raúl knows it; he knows exactly where he's going to put it. The special thing about him is that he works so much for the team as well. We know we still have a lot of work ahead of us, at home against a team that play with such high intensity, and will prepare accordingly.
