Manolo Jiménez may have spoken too soon when he said Sevilla would have been definite title frontrunners this season if there were no Barcelona. His Sevilla side stumbled to a shock 2-0 home defeat to Racing Santander overnight, and the coach was visibly irked with his charges after the contest.
“It is necessary to congratulate Racing for their excellent performance, but today, my team were dreadful,” he said during the post-match interviews. “It was one of our worst games and we were bad right from the start. We did not have the ability to change the rhythm of the game. We have lost another great chance to beat an opponent at home and we did not play like we were supposed to. We only have ourselves to blame because we were not able to overcome a compact, disciplined and direct Racing side.”
Sevilla will have another big test in midweek when they take on Valencia in the Copa del Rey, and Jiménez is hoping that the fans will still come out and support them at the Sánchez Pizjuán.
“It is logical that the fans are displeased with our poor performance today. The team lacked freshness but I hope that the fans will show their support for us against Valencia,” he concluded. The Andalucians stay third in the Primera División standings but they are now three points behind second-placed Real Madrid, and 15 points adrift of Barcelona at the top.
Goal.com