valencia cf striker roberto soldado downplayed the significance of a reunion with raúl gonzález as he urged his side to seize the moment in their last-16 tie with fc schalke 04.
uefa champions league knockout football is back at the mestalla after a four-year absence and what better way to mark that return than with a highly anticipated fixture between two of the teams who surprised many in the tournament's group phase.
despite a home loss to manchester united fc, unai emery's valencia pushed the premier league side all the way before finishing second in group c, all the while demonstrating their scoring prowess with 15 goals. schalke, meanwhile, topped a section that contained last year's beaten semi-finalists olympique lyonnais and portugal's sl benfica to set up a round of 16 encounter that seems likely to be closely fought over the two legs.
for valencia forward roberto soldado, the game represents a huge challenge that he and his team-mates must face up to from the off. "we know [schalke] are a team who won't make anything easy for us. we must focus on our own game and style. this is the most important match of our lives and we must go for the jugular in order to try to take [control of] the tie," said the 25-year-old, scorer of five goals in five group stage appearances.
the former getafe cf and real madrid cf striker appreciates it will be hard to pick a winner. schalke have a positive record at the mestalla with two draws from two previous visits, the first in a 1996/97 uefa cup quarter-final the german side won, the second in the uefa champions league group stage a decade later.
"this game is so important that we must erase the statistics from our minds and just go out and give our all. we're playing at home and i'm sure if we continue on the path that got us here it will serve us well. we have the confidence and we need to use that."
the liga club – who won two of their three group c home matches – will once again look to their vociferous fans to help them see off the challenge of a schalke outfit featuring former madrid favourite raúl gonzález. "our fans will be sure to make a huge effort. they always respond well and i'm certain they'll help us again to get the right result."
the fixture is raúl's first back on spanish soil since his departure from madrid last summer but soldado played down the significance of his return – even if he was actually playing alongside the ex-spain attacker when he registered his first uefa champions league goal for madrid, a late winner against olympiacos fc in a 2-1 victory in september 2005 in which raúl had opened the scoring.
"schalke are not all about raúl," said soldado. "they have many dangerous players, especially up front, and we'll have to be careful. the subject of raúl is just one more in a game where we will be looking to get a good result in order to go to germany with a good chance to qualify."
raúl gonzález struck on his return to spain as schalke came from behind to secure a draw in the first leg of a competitive round of 16 tie.
fc schalke 04 took all valencia cf could throw at them at mestalla and went away with a 1-1 draw and that most vital of prizes, an away goal.
for most spaniards the return of raúl gonzález was like a royal homecoming and his majestic goal in the second half cancelled out roberto soldado's tidy opener. it continued valencia's barren run of five draws and a defeat in the last six visits from german opposition and leaves a mountain to climb in gelsenkirchen on 9 march. the hosts will be without lukas schmitz, however, after he received a second yellow card in the last minute.
the match had intensity and attacking fervour from the outset – both teams had been pawing the ground in impatience all winter for the return of top-level european competition. felix magath's visitors started with more zip, more effective passes and a higher passing tempo. they should have been 1-0 up inside ten minutes.
valencia tried to clear their lines but both centre-halves, david navarro and ricardo costa, mistimed their push out of the penalty area and benedikt höwedes had time to tee up klaas-jan huntelaar. the striker took centre stage but fluffed his lines, barely making contact as the ball bounced harmlessly to the keeper.
the false impression was that unai emery's decision to play three men in midfield, and ask his full-backs to surge up and down the touchline, was leaving the home side exposed. instead, the pairing of tino costa and éver banega almost instantly combined to rob possession, use it smartly and create the opening goal.
aritz aduriz had dropped deep and when he received the ball he had room to use jérémy mathieu on the overlap; the french wing-back's centre was exquisite. soldado glanced past manuel neuer for his sixth goal in as many uefa champions league matches for valencia and the mestalla crowd rose as one to salute him.
vicente guaita joined the party ten minutes later, arching his back and clawing peer kluge's dipping header over the bar. then miguel emulated mathieu's cross, but this time from the right, and soldado's touch was millimetres away from adding the second goal. it was a scintillating half.
that second goal was crucial, and within moments of the restart each side almost scored. the influential banega skewed a shot across the face of neuer's goal but raúl did not want to return to the country of his birth without a goal.
seizing on another positional error from valencia's central defence he sent a right-footed shot towards the bottom corner but guaita produced the save of his youthful career; it was danger delayed, not dealt with.
shortly after, josé manuel jurado sent in a low cross that allowed compatriot raúl to nip in front of navarro, control with one touch and score left footed with his next. it was a classy moment from a classy player. only another marvellous save from guaita, this time from junmin hao, saved valencia from defeat.
alman basınına göre 1-0 geriden 1-1 lik beraberliği yakalayan schalke takımı, bir üst tur için daha şanslı görülmektedir.
rheinzeitung ve bild gazetelerinde ise schalke takımının en başarılı oyuncusu olarak raul gonzalez gösterilmekte, 33 yaşındaki delikanlının schalke'ye çeyrek final şansı olarak 7,5 milyon euro kazandırdığını yazmaktadır.
orta hakem uzatma anlarında faul yapan lukas schmitz'e sarı kart gösterdi ve oyunu devam ettirdi. yardımcı hakem son anda hatayı farkedip orta hakemi uyardı ve lukas schmitz ikinci sarı kartı görüp kırmızı kart ile oyun dışında kaldı...
