
Jiménez arrived at the press conference this afternoon in fighting mood ahead of Sevilla's Spanish Cup tie with Barcelona, stating that Frank Rijkaard's side will have to be wary of the threat that Sevilla will pose to them, especially at the Sánchez Pizjuán on Wednesday evening.
"We know that we may struggle in Barcelona, but they will know that Sevilla is a dangerous opponent, especially over the two leg," he told the gathered press.
"To eliminate them is very attractive for us and if both sides were at full strength, this would be the sort of tie that would be fitting for the final of the competition."
However, Jiménez was quick to state that his side will not be a full capacity, due to the absences of Seydou Keita, Fredi Kanouté and Arounda Koné, who have already joined up with their respective nations ahead of the African Cup of Nations, despite Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona and Cameroon supposedly being available for the tie.
"Cameroon allows that favor, in inverted commas, for him to stay with Barcelona although I believe that it would have to be an obligation. For Sevilla, Mali did not allow us to keep two players (Keita and Kanouté) who are very important to us.
"But it is not necessary to lament this, because it is what it is. There is no equality of rules in respect to the callups, which have weakened the competition, but we must came together as a group and demonstrate that we have the players to compensate for these absences. They are, however, three important losses."
Confidence is high in the Sevilla dressing room at the moment and Jiménez confirmed that the players are desperate to defend the trophy that they won last season.
"The players know of the importance of this game, first to defend the title, second because it is Barcelona and third because we are conscious that this type of competition can give you massive momentum.
"If we want to reach the final we must eliminate Barcelona," he concluded.
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