Valencia vs Schalke 04 live stream online
Valencia vs Schalke 04 9th mar 2011
Schalke vs Valencia
The 33-year-old, who became the competition's all-time top scorer with 69 goals thanks to his strike in the 1-1 draw between the two sides in Spain, faces the prospect of never playing in the competition again if Schalke go out tomorrow night.
The Royal Blues would need a miracle to qualify for the competition again next season, given their poor Bundesliga form, which is why Raul desperately wants to ensure he gets more Champions League action this season.
"Whenever I hear the Champions League theme music, I get goosebumps," he said on his club's website.
"It would be a great success for Schalke to be one of the best eight clubs in Europe.
"You never know, it could be my last Champions League game, but the special relationship between Raul and the Champions League will last forever, no matter what happens."
However, Raul knows the tie is far from over, despite Schalke having the slight advantage of having scored an away goal in the 1-1 draw in the first leg.
"There are still 90 minutes to be played, despite our small advantage, in which they can turn things around," he added.
"They are even more dangerous away from home."
The future of Schalke manager Felix Magath could also depend on his side matching their best ever European achievement of reaching the quarter-finals.
Given their worrying Bundesliga form, Magath is under pressure to continue delivering the goods in Europe, although he has shrugged off claims he will not last until the end of the season.
"I am not worried about my job," he said.
Since the first-leg draw, Valencia have recorded two wins, a draw and a defeat in La Liga, leaving them in third spot and with a healthy four-point advantage over fourth-placed Villarreal.
Both of those league wins came away from the Mestalla, which should give Los Che encouragement for the trip to Germany, but coach Unai Emery admits they need to improve on both those performances if they are to have a chance of ousting Schalke tomorrow.
Los Che defeated Athletic Bilbao and Real Mallorca 2-1 on their travels but needed to fight back from deficits in both games.
Emery said on his personal website: "To eliminate Schalke we must improve on aspects of our play in the last two games in Bilbao and Mallorca. The victories do not hide the defects, and we know that Schalke will not let us get away with mistakes either in defence or attack."
Valencia midfielder Tino Costa added: "We know how important this game is. We're coming off a win in Mallorca, which was important, and now we're really looking forward to the match.
"We know that it's going to be very tough but we're very focused and up for the game."
Emery has taken a 23-man squad with him to Gelsenkirchen, with Chori Dominguez and Miguel Brito the only players missing.
Schalke are still without striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who is injured, while full-back Lukas Schmitz is suspended.
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