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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Raúl's Madrid run out of fairy dust

/noticias.info/ Raúl González admitted losing out at the first knockout round stage of the UEFA Champions League for the fourth season running was "a hard blow" but that he and his Real Madrid CF team-mates "must move forward" as they concentrate their efforts on winning their 31st Primera División title.

Missing spark
AS Roma's 2-1 triumph at the Santiago Bernabéu mirrored their first leg winning result in Rome and ensured the Italian outfit advanced to the quarter-finals for the second successive season. For Raúl, it was the defeat in Italy two weeks prior that proved decisive to his team's elimination. "We were the better team in Rome and we deserved a better result," the Madrid captain said. "Roma came here and positioned themselves very well, they got a lot of men behind the ball. We gave it everything, we really tried our best, but we couldn't find the magic."

Key moments
Madrid had exited at the same stage in the previous three seasons to Juventus, Arsenal FC and FC Bayern München and when Roma took the lead in the 73rd minute through Taddei just moments after the home side had Pepe sent off for a second bookable offence, it seemed Bernd Schuster's men were set for a similar fate. "The dismissal and their first goal left us shattered," Raúl stated before adding: "We knew we had a chance but those incidents ended our hopes. We couldn't get back from there."

Disappointing end
Raúl's 61st goal in his 116th UEFA Champions League match 15 minutes from the end of the second leg brought the sides level on the night, yet while searching for the goal that would have taken the tie into extra-time, Madrid were caught by Mirko Vučinić's added-time sucker punch. "We had high hopes but at the end it's been disappointing," the Spanish forward lamented. "We wanted to gain some prestige in Europe, that was one of our objectives, but it's just not to be."

League lead
Knocked out of the Spanish Cup by RCD Mallorca earlier in the season and now without UEFA Champions League football thanks to Roma, Raúl is determined that the Primera División title will not escape Madrid. He said: "This Saturday we've got a league match to think about. We have a five-point advantage [over FC Barcelona] and we have to keep working on that. From tomorrow we'll be concentrating on our next game against [RCD] Espanyol." notas_de_prensa_archivo