It Could be Ralf at Hawthorns

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Is Raul Set for China or UAE?

Spain and Real Madrid legend Raul will be leaving German side Schalke on a free transfer in the summer.

Raul announced on Thursday that he would not be moving to another club in Europe, ruling out a switch to the Premier League.

'My future will not be in Europe. My agent and I will go through offers. It won't be as strong a league as the ones here,' he said.

Raul, who turns 35 in June, said he had two offers from outside Europe but did not specify.

Schalke had made the former Real Madrid and Spain captain an offer to stay but the club said that he has decided to leave.

'They were two wonderful years that I will always bear in my heart. I was able to do what I like doing the best: playing, playing, playing,' Raul said. 

'I also have to give the fans a special thanks for their affection and respect.'

Raul turned down the chance to move to England when he joined Schalke, and he now looks likely to move to a club in the Middle East or the United States.

Raul won the Champions League three times with Real, scoring 228 goals in 550 games for the club he went on to skipper. 

He also scored 44 goals in a 102-cap international career.

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Bilbao Reach Europa Last Four

Athletic Bilbao overcame Schalke in a tight encounter at San Mames on Thursday night to seal a 6-4 aggregate win and advance to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals.

Trailing 4-2 from the quarter-final first leg, Schalke twice took the lead on the night through Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Raul.

But the home side replied with strikes from Ibai Gomez and Markel Susaeta to secure a draw which earned them an aggregate victory and a last-four meeting with Sporting Lisbon.

Bilbao threatened first with an eighth-minute header from Iker Muniain which warmed the palms of visiting goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall.

Schalke responded almost instantly with a testing volley from Huntelaar, which had to be tipped over the bar at full stretch by Gorka Iraizoz in the Bilbao goal.

The German side seemed to take confidence from the effort, and Lewis Holtby also gave Iraizoz something to think about with a long-range left-footed drive which was well held by the goalkeeper.

Huntelaar then put a header over from a few yards out after a corner from Jose Manuel Jurado.

Athletic were struggling to contain their opponents and it was no surprise when they conceded after 28 minutes as in-form Huntelaar notched his 10th goal of the competition, picking up the ball on the edge of the area and drilling a shot into the bottom left corner.

But the Spanish hosts began to find some rhythm as the half wore on and Gomez produced a stunning equaliser four minutes before the break.

The striker, who had come on as a replacement for Andoni Iraola after 30 minutes, raced on to a ball on the left wing, cut across into the centre and smashed an unstoppable shot home from 25 yards out.

Schalke were back in front seven minutes into the second half thanks to Raul, who made the most of a neat lay-off from Obasi to fire home left-footed from the edge of the area.

But Athletic took just three minutes to draw level once more, Muniain supplying the pass for Susaeta to finish into the bottom right corner from 15 yards.

It was an absorbing contest for the San Mames crowd, and Holtby tried to get Schalke back in front with a drive which went narrowly wide of the left post, while Iraizoz needed two attempts to keep hold of a shot from Jefferson Farfan.

Athletic pressed for a winner in the closing stages but Susaeta fired their best chance across the face of goal and past the left post.

Athletic Comeback at Veltins Arena

Fernando Llorente's two goals helped Athletic Bilbao to a 4-2 comeback win at Schalke in the Europa League quarter-final first leg.

After Llorente put Bilbao ahead in the 20th minute, Schalke's Raul Gonzalez rallied the hosts back in front with two goals either side of half-time.

But Llorente headed in an equaliser in the 73rd minute to turn the high-tempo contest in Bilbao's favour, as Oscar de Marcos and Iker Muniain scored late on at Veltins Arena.

"It was a great game," Llorente said. "It wasn't at all easy because they responded very well to our first goal. What Raul did was incredible. You can't ask anything more of a match."

At Schalke both sides started well but Bilbao struck first through Llorente when he poked in his own rebound that goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand failed to hold on to.

Bilbao's lead lasted two minutes before Raul redirected Atsuto Uchida's cross inside the near post. The former Real Madrid star then made it 2-1 in the 60th minute with a dipping volley from outside the area.

With Schalke pressing for another goal, Llorente muscled past a pair of defenders to flick in a corner for his 25th goal in all competitions.

Bilbao showed the same attacking flair that led them to oust Manchester United in the previous round as De Marcos scored the winner in the 81st off a rebound and Muniain sealed the win in stoppage time on a counterattack.

"We knew they were good on the break, but we let our guard down," the Schalke defender Christian Fuchs said. "Everyone will now be against us but we can still pull off a miracle. We need three goals but anything is possible."

Atlético Madrid beat Hannover 2-1 in the other first-leg quarter-final between Spanish and German teams. Radamel Falcao capitalised on Atlético's early dominance by heading home a free-kick nine minutes in for his seventh goal of the competition this season. The Colombia striker is the Europa League's all-time leading scorer with 22 in 23 appearances.

Hannover levelled through Mame Diouf's 38th-minute goal and looked set to head back to Germany with a positive result until Eduardo Salvio blasted in a shot from long range to give Atlético the victory in the 89th minute.

"Thank God for the goal, it gives us some breathing room heading to Germany," Salvio said.

In the Netherlands the Australia midfielder Brett Holman scored one and created another as AZ Alkmaar got the better of Valencia 2-1.

Holman put AZ in front with a powerful volley in the 45th minute but Mehmet Topal levelled for Valencia six minutes later. Maarten Martens converted Holman's cross from six yards in the 78th minute to earn the win for AZ.

Sporting Lisbon inflicted on the Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv their first away defeat in the competition with second-half goals from Marat Izmailov and Emiliano Insua. Izmailov scored from a cross by Diego Capel in the 51st minute and Insua extended the Portuguese club's lead 13 minutes later with a low drive from a free-kick.

Cleiton Xavier got a valuable away goal for Metalist Kharkiv with a 90th-minute penalty.