Raul showed there was life for Real Madrid without Cristiano Ronaldo after his brace against Real Valladolid. The Real captain struck twice in the 4-2 victory and later declared: "I am happy everything worked out as above all I'm proud to have secured three important points."

Raul was presented with a trophy at the start of the game for breaking the club's appearances records and added: "I never thought of doing this. It'll be fifteen years since my debut and it was hard to think of reaching that number of games.

"I feel very happy, wanting to help my teammates, the club and especially keen to continue playing."

The Real Madrid captain was candid in his analysis of the team's play, admitting: "We're not showing continuity through to the 90th minute.

"There have been stages of good play, we started very well, then Valladolid scored and this has generated unease. We have failed to manage the game.

"Scoring four goals speaks of our great attack, but we had difficulties."