Sevilla coach Unai Emery was left optimistic despite his side's late loss to Barcelona in the UEFA Super Cup.
In an enthralling encounter, Emery's men went down 5-4 after Pedro scored a 115th-minute winner in Tbilisi on Tuesday.
After seeing his team come from 4-1 down to force extra time, Emery was upbeat ahead of Sevilla's La Liga opener against Malaga on August 21.
"I do not know if the result is fair," he said.
"But with the chances we had, I am left with honey on the lips."
But Jose Antonio Reyes, Kevin Gameiro and Yevhen Konoplyanka struck to force extra time, before Pedro's goal.
"If we have taken the step to reach the Champions League and the final of the Super Cup, we have to challenge ourselves, to grow, to compete with them and see where we can go," he said.
"We have taken a step today, even in defeat makes us proud of the team because we've been there.
"I said at the beginning, the worst would have been unable to identify the team, and we did."
