Illness rules Raul out of United tie

Raul, the Real Madrid striker, was rushed to hospital to undergo surgery for acute appendicitis yesterday, ruling him out of tomorrow's Champions' League quarter-final second leg away to Manchester United.

Raul, who scored twice in Madrid's 3-1 first-leg victory at the Bernabeu, was at the team's training ground in Madrid when he reported feeling a sharp pain and fever. After tests he was diagnosed with appendicitis.

The Spanish club said they would make a statement on the player's condition after the operation had been completed. "I'm not a doctor, but he won't be playing on Wednesday," a spokesman for Real said.

The Madrid captain, Fernando Hierro, added: "The wish of all the squad is to overcome Manchester and dedicate the triumph to him. It's obvious that it's a loss for us but we all hope he gets better as soon as possible and above all that we can advance and that he can help us in the next round if he can."

Raul, 25, is the leading scorer in the Champions' League with 43 goals since the competition adopted its current format. The Spanish international, who has just recovered from an ankle injury, would have equalled Gary Neville's Champions' League appearance record of 78 if he had been able to play tomorrow.

After the first-leg defeat in the Madrid, Raul was described by Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, as the world's best player. "Real buy these big players like [Luis] Figo, [Zinedine] Zidane and Ronaldo, but I think the best player in the world is Raul," Ferguson said.

The striker also produced a match-winning display the last time the two sides met at Old Trafford three years ago, Raul scoring twice in a 3-2 Real win.

The Madrid coach, Vicente del Bosque, is expected to replace Raul with the Spanish international Guti, who has scored five goals in the competition this season. He could also opt for Javier Portillo.

The Italian referee Pierluigi Collina, who officiated in last year's World Cup final between Brazil and Germany, will take charge of tomorrow's encounter at Old Trafford.