Jose Maria del Nido has conceded that Real Betis have proven to be better than Sevilla this season, but he still harbours hopes of European qualification.
Sevilla head into Friday’s derby at the Benito Villamarin three places and six points behind city rivals Betis.
“We will face a team that has so far proven to be better than us, that are in a sweet moment,” admitted Sevilla President Del Nido this week.
“Fortunately, Sevilla are also in good form and are tough. We know we are going to suffer but we can win.
“The goal for Sevilla is not to catch Betis but to qualify for European competition. This match is more important for Sevilla than Betis for the points that we have.
“If we lose on Friday but win the other seven games then our objective would be met but of course, if we win on Friday then our objective would be in easier reach.”
Del Nido reflected on the need for the club to reach Europe this season, in light of a €50m debt and the generally accepted necessity for the club to sell players in the summer.
“We are trying to qualify for European competition, yes. It is the aspiration of Sevilla to do so, whilst we will not talk about finishing fifth or eighth to qualify, but obviously the target of fifth is moving further away.
“I want to qualify for Europe but without forgetting who we are. It is impossible, for example, to compete with Real Madrid and Manchester United. I am the first to want to win, but we have to be realistic too.
“Failure to achieve the goal will see us make some sales that will cause discontent, but nothing happened when players like Sergio Ramos, Julio Baptista and Jose Antonio Reyes left.
“The team has to face five opponents currently above them in the table, three of these at home and Emery’s numbers have been outstanding so far.
“If we continue as we have at home, we can go far, but we also have to win away and what better place to start than on Friday.
“We have the squad to get into Europe and if we do not then it is because someone has not done their job. We have the same ambition as the Sevilla side of 2006-07.”
