Schalke 04 midfielder Julian Draxler has conceded that German side struggled to breakdown a "very stubborn opponent" after only mustering a draw with Maribor in the Champions League.

Damjan Bohar gave the Slovenians a shock lead at half time before Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored to give the Royal Blues a point, but Draxler admitted that the Bundesliga club found it tough in trying to earn a winning goal.

He is quoted by UEFA.com as saying: "The sticking point was that we didn't go ahead. After this we conceded a silly counterattack and afterwards it was very difficult to score against a very stubborn opponent.

"We had budgeted these three points, but we still have four matches to collect enough points."

Schalke will next face Sporting Lisbon, who lost 1-0 at home to Group G leaders Chelsea.

Written by
Chris O'Keefe