Published>Mon, Mar 15 10 09:17 PM
Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez brushed aside the potential financial impact of failure to make the Champions League quarter-finals yet the significance of Tuesday's match with CSKA Moscow was far from lost on him.
The Andalusians, seeking to reach the last eight for the first time, host the Russian club for the second leg of their last-16 tie after last month's first leg finished 1-1.
Jimenez looks likely to have strikers Frederic Kanoute, Luis Fabiano and Alvaro Negredo, scorer of the goal in Moscow, fit after all three featured in Saturday's 1-1 La Liga draw with Deportivo Coruna.
Yet it was the impact progress would have on the club, city and region which outweighed in his mind any difference it would make to the team's balance sheets.
"I don't think about the financial figures," Jimenez said at a news conference at Sevilla's Sanchez Pizjuan stadium on Monday.
"Others are responsible for that and they have shown that they are doing a perfect job."
Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido left no doubt as to the importance of success in Europe's lucrative elite club competition before the first leg in Moscow, saying elimination at this stage could push them into the red.
Teams reaching the last eight will get at least another 3.3 million euros ($4.5 million), plus a further 4 million for making the semi-finals and 9 million for winning the title or 5.2 million for finishing as runners-up.
"In economic terms, progress to the (quarters) has been written into the budget for this season and if we don't manage it we will start to talk about negative figures," Del Nido said.
In sporting terms, Tuesday's match could be one of the most important of his career and qualification for the quarters would be an historic achievement, Jimenez said.
"But sincerely, and it's not a cliche, every match my team plays is important to me," he added.
"It's a very important match for the club, the team, the city, for Andalusia and for Spain.
"That's why ... we have to increase our efficiency to try to reach the quarters and convert it into an historic fact for Sevilla and the whole city."
Jimenez said he was confident of a positive outcome on Tuesday if Sevilla showed more mobility and decisiveness in the final third of the pitch.
"Hopefully they (CSKA) will create as few chances as Deportivo but I am conscious of the fact that they are a well-equipped side and one of Europe's best," he said.
"The team as a whole is dangerous. You can nullify one player but not an entire team and CSKA has some very strong and balanced players."
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