After five years of under-achievement since Chelsea lifted the trophy in 2012, the Premier League teams are catching the eye again in this campaign.
Liverpool and Manchester City hold healthy leads after the first leg of their last-16 ties while Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham can be hopeful of reaching the last eight as they prepare for their second-leg games.
'The English teams this year are looking very dangerous rivals,' said Raul, who won the Champions League three times in 16 years with Real Madrid.