Raúl's final fling to cost Real dear?

At the same time that his former team was meandering into the Champions League semifinals with a 1-0 win over Tottenham- a formality of a tie dressed up as a competitive fixture- Raúl was busily applying the final nail or two to the coffin of Inter Milan's title defense, and possibly Leonardo's team in its current artless guise.

Serie A seems to work rather like the cocoon of the eponymous 1980s film that kept Don Ameche and company full of youthful vim, but this season both AC and Inter have been woefully incapable of keeping up in Europe's elite competition. Spurs, with no previous experience in the tournament and thoroughly schooled by Real in a 5-0 aggregate defeat, beat AC in the previous round and Inter in the group stage. Schalke, a more frequent participant but chiefly in the qualifying and group stages, rattled seven past Inter's creaking defense and the Italians' chief tormentor was a jaunty Raúl, rejuvenated by his move to the Bundesliga after so many years of carrying the hopes and tortured dreams of Real in the competition.

No longer the focus of media and fans' microscopic attention, the world-weary countenance the 33-year-old wore in his final years at Real has given way to impish delight at Schalke's unprecedented run. Raúl scored in both legs against Inter and his celebratory run to the corner flag before sliding on his knees was a far cry from the name-pointing gesture he patented at Real, seemingly at pains to remind detractors of the weight of his title. In Gelsenkirchen Raúl has already written his legend in local eyes and wears a far lighter crown in a role of reduced responsibility.

After the game, in which he also delivered a sublime pass for Benedikt Howedes to thrash home Schalke's second, Raúl clambered into the stands to celebrate with the home support. It may be something of a local custom and alien to a player brought up in the austere Bernabéu but Raúl has warmed to the chilly mining town.

And it is not just goals that the veteran number 7 has delivered. Schalke's technical staff were amazed by Raúl's dedication in training and on Wednesday night in the Veltins-Arena no player on the German team ran further. Many is the player who seeks a final payday at the expense of an ambitious side but Raúl has delivered considerably more than a boost to Schalke's merchandise revenue. He has scored 12 in the Bundesliga, five in the Champions League and one in the German Cup, the final of which Schalke will contest against second-division MSV Duisberg.

After frustrating years in the shadow of Guardiola's Barcelona and Real's six-year hiatus from the last eight of the Champions League, Raúl could be on for a European and domestic cup double. It would be a fitting end to his European career; three Champions League titles and the competition's goalscoring record with 71 strikes. Schalke sits 10th in the Bundesliga and in all likelihood this will be Raúl's final fling in Europe.

Standing in Schalke's way in the Champions League is Manchester United. Beating the three-times champion over two legs with a Wembley final in play may be too much to ask of a side that has never before reached the semifinals, but the Gelsenkirchen faithful will be in raucous voice for the first match on April 26- tickets sold out on Thursday in two and a half hours.

Should Schalke upset the odds and Real get the better of Barcelona in the second semifinal, a dream reunion with his former side would give Raúl the perfect opportunity to thumb his generous nose at his former employers. Real's longest-serving players, Guti and the number 7, were rather unceremoniously shown the door when José Mourinho arrived to overhaul the squad. Was there a place for Raúl? Possibly not in the summer, but after Gonzalo Higuaín's long-term injury, certainly.

Raúl is too diplomatic to opine, but former Real president Ramón Calderón was happy to oblige: "I am with Raúl to the death, although I know he would rather have been in the final with Real Madrid. It is a question for the current board why he is not there and why what happened, happened."