Malmo President Hakan Jeppsson has illustrated just how overwhelmed his side are compared to Real Madrid by revealing the budget to which the team works.
Jeppsson, on the club’s books as a youngster before a career in professional table tennis gave way to the business world, has been interviewed by AS with the sides playing tonight.
“Our playing budget last season was €20m and after qualifying for the Champions League for two years, it’s €45m,” he revealed, after AS noted Madrid’s budget came in at €600m.
“The money from the Champions League is essential. I don’t know [if the disparity is fair] but that’s football today.
“We need to measure ourselves against these big clubs to improve. It’s good that there’s a balance between the big clubs and more modest clubs.
“The way I see it, it’s the same in Spain, that leap between Barcelona, Madrid, Atletico Madrid…and the rest.
“We’ve been on top of Swedish football for the last five or six years. Our League isn’t as powerful but last year we played Atletico and we dominated them for an hour. The team showed their face against Juventus too.
“We’re small but no one should underestimate us at our home because you might be surprised. We’re strong here.”
Jeppsson was asked if there’s been greater interest in Madrid’s visit with Cristiano Ronaldo or hometown boy Zlatan Ibrahimovic returning with Paris Saint-Germain.
“People want to see both. Ibra returns and the city is euphoric,” he considered.
“But Madrid have all that history behind them and they’re the biggest team we’ve ever played. The ticket situation is almost dramatic.
“We could sell 60,000 or 70,000 tickets. We’re the only Nordic club in the Champions League and we’ve had interest from many fans in Norway, Denmark, Finland…
“Could Zlatan play here? You never know. It’s a dream. He never played at the highest level for Malmo because he was sold to Ajax when he was so young. It’s difficult, but not impossible.”
