Schalke 04 hot-shot Raul is relishing facing Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs in Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final as the two veterans, with a combined age of 70, eye one more European triumph this season. One of the sub-plots of the last four clash will be the confrontation between veterans Raul, 33, and Giggs, 37. Between them, the pair have 176 Champions League appearances, 98 goals — of which Raul’s 71 are the tournament record — and five winners’ medals. Raul has an enviable record against the three-time European champions, having netted against them four times in three games for Real Madrid.
Raul says he has enormous respect for both ever-green United stars Giggs and 36-year-old Scholes. “Giggs and (Paul) Scholes are players for whom I have an enormous admiration,” Raul told the Daily Mail. “What we have in common is that we love this profession. Football is our lives. “They are great professionals who look after themselves and who train properly. “For Giggs to still be playing at this level at 37 years of age is incredible. I would love to swap shirts with Ryan Giggs after the game.
It would be a great honour to have that shirt.” The reason Raul has been able to play so much this season is he has been relieved of the commercial commitments he had at Real and, like Giggs, has always shunned the showbiz lifestyle. “I am more relaxed now,” he said. “At Real Madrid, I had a lot more responsibilities. “Now I don’t have to worry about anything else, I can concentrate on getting on with my team-mates, training and playing.”
