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The Andalucian outfit believe that a year out of European competition would be a step backwards and will follow the route that Atlético de Madrid took last summer.

Sitting seventh in the table, Sevilla are just two points behind Racing Santander, who are in sixth, and only seven points behind Villarreal, who are fourth.

"We are taking it as a precaution because it would be a failure from every point of view to not be in any European competition," said coach Manolo Jiménez.

"We are aware of the life that we have given our competitors through not having secured the necessary points to be fulfilling our pre-season plans.

"The objective that Sevilla have is to get higher by beating Barça this weekend, which will not be not easy.

"If we can continue winning game by game and accumulating points, it will be good and we will move up the table, but our rivals are also playing to obtain their goals, and we have to take this into account."

Sevilla are still in the Champions League after finishing on top of their group ahead of Arsenal and will meet Galatasaray in the first knockout round.

source:goal.com