Sevilla manager Unai Emery believes his side wants to do something memorable this season, but refuses to call his team the “favorites” heading into tomorrow’s match against Real Madrid.

Los Rojiblancos are currently level on points with fourth place Valencia in La Liga. However, if the season were to end today, Sevilla would miss out on Champions League qualification after having lost the head-to-head battle with Valencia; they also trail Los Che on goal difference.

If Sevilla were to fall short of qualifying for the Champions League via the league table, they would still control their own destiny since the defending Europa League champions have once again progressed to the latter stages of that competition.

With that in mind, Unai Emery believes his side deserves recognition for their achievements to date. However, the Sevilla boss understands that his team has more work to do – starting with Saturday’s match against second place Real Madrid.

“The way the team has been progressing has been creditworthy and we’ve been showing it,” Emery said during his pre-match press conference.

“There’s a lot of commitment to try and do something memorable. On the first of May, we’ve got ambitions in the league and in Europe.

“The team has proved that they know how to manage two competitions and play well in both. We don’t know yet which one will take us to our objective.”

Sevilla’s home ground is one of the most intimidating venues in all of Europe.

They are unbeaten in their last 34 home matches, and have beaten Atletico Madrid and drawn with league leading Barcelona at the Sanchez Pizjuan this season.

Despite his home field advantage, Emery doesn’t consider his side the favorites heading into Saturday’s marquee match with Real Madrid.

“It would be bold to consider ourselves favorites against Real Madrid,” Emery added. “But we know if we set the bar high, they won’t have it easy.

“But you can’t talk about us being favorites.

“We have to try and ensure they aren’t the protagonists. We’re playing for our own objectives. We wanted to beat Barcelona and we want to beat Real as well. They can play for the title afterwards.

“We’re going well and the fans get behind the team in the Sanchez Pizjuan.  The visiting team know that they’ll have to work hard to win. We have to know how to play against a team like Real Madrid.”

Programming note: Sevilla vs. Real Madrid will be shown LIVE on Saturday starting at 2:00pm EST on beIN SPORTS and fuboTV (free 14-day trial).