Raul increases record as Schalke defeat Hapoel Tel-Aviv in Champions League
Schalke striker Raul further increased his lead as Europe's most prolific scorer in Champions League history by scoring a brace on Wednesday and leading Schalke to a 3-1 victory over Hapoel Tel-Aviv in
the Champions League on match day three.
Schalke went ahead after just three minutes when a clever dummy from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar turned a pass from Jurado into a through ball for Raul to latch onto and shoot past Tel-Aviv's Nigerian goalkeeper,
Vincent Enyeama.
Schalke went up 2-0 in the 58th minute after substitute Ivan Ratikic, who had only been on the field for a few minutes, found Raul in the box with a low cross to hit home.
Jurado, who had put the ball through for Raul's first goal, put the German side up 3-0 in the 68th minute with a tremendous strike from just outside the penalty area which flew off the post and in past
Enyeama.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv managed a late consolation goal through
Etey Shechter, who scored three minutes into stoppage time to bring the final score to 3-1.
For Raul, the two goals against Hapoel were his first of this year's Champions League campaign, and first Champions League goals for his new club. Raul scored 66 goals in the
UEFA Champions League with his former club Real Madrid, and these two goals for Schalke were his 67th and 68th in the Champions League
– and 70th goal total in all European competitions.
In getting his pair of goals, Raul will most certainly have finally endeared himself to the Schalke faithful.
"For him (Raul), it was a relief to get those goals, he was been under fire and it was good for him to show how strong he is in front of goal," Schalke coach Felix Magath said of Raul's performance.
"It was good for us that we scored some nice goals and played some good football.
"It will give us a confidence boost, we have always played well in the Champions League, but now we need to concentrate on the league."
Schalke got their all-important second victory of the Champions League group stage putting them in second place in the group, just behind leaders Olympique Lyonnais, and in good position to qualify for
the next round.
For Hapoel, the outlook is not as promising, as they have now failed to collect a point from all three matches and have been outscored 8-2 along the way.
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