Jimenez: Kudos not cash driving force for Sevilla
SEVILLA - Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez brushed aside the potential financial impact of failure to make the Champions League quarter-finals but the significance of Tuesday's match against CSKA Moscow was not lost on him.
The Andalusians, seeking to reach the last eight for the first time, host the Russian club in the second leg of their last-16 tie after last month's first leg in freezing conditions in Moscow finished 1-1.
Jimenez should 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 psychological impact progress would have on the club, city and region which dominated the coach's thoughts. "I don't think about the financial figures," Jimenez told 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.
Teams reaching the last eight will get at least another 3.3 million euros, plus a further 4 million for making the semi-finals and 9 million for winning the title or 5.2 million for finishing 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.
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HISTORIC FACT
"Sincerely, and it's not a cliche, every match my team plays is important to me," Jimenez 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's CSKA counterpart, Leonid Slutsky, said his players were pleased the weather conditions would be more favourable in the Andalusian capital compared with the icy temperatures of the first leg.
"Any player would prefer to be playing in 15 degrees Celsius rather than minus eight," he said. "From that point of view it's nice to be here."
Brazil striker Fabiano said he had not been surprised by the result in Moscow as CSKA had shown the potential to cause upsets when they drew 3-3 at Manchester United in the group stage.
"They should have won that game," Fabiano told UEFA's website.
"Although we have the advantage of the away goal, they have nothing to lose and we're going to have to be careful," he said.
"It should be a tight game like the first one, but this time we have a bit more responsibility to take the initiative. We cannot play in a conservative way in front of our supporters."