91Èȱ¬

Sevilla are also in the final of the Copa Del Rey and will face Atletico Madrid in late May but are fourth in La Liga - 16 points behind leaders Barcelona.

"The league might be a bit much now but there is no reason why we can't get to the final of the Champions League," added the Spanish international optimistically.

"Just look at the way we were playing during the group stage. We played well and got through to this stage without any problems."

Despite the fact that they are the least-heralded of the three Spanish sides left in the last 16 - with nearly all the attention being given at home and abroad to previous Champions League winners Barcelona and Real Madrid - it would be no surprise to me if Sevilla manage to progress through to at least the semi-finals.

This despite the fact that, with Wednesday's first leg being away, the Russian capital in February is always going to be a cold, inhospitable place for a visiting team from the usually sunny south of Spain.

The key to Sevilla's success this season, and why I don't think they are as big an underdog as many might imagine, has curiously not been their front men of Fredi Kanoute and Luis Fabiano, but what has been happening in the midfield and down the wings.

Luis Fabiano has hit nine goals in 13 La Liga games so far this season. Photograph: AFP

Sevilla's best results, like their memorable 2-1 win over the vaunted Nuevos Galacticos of Real Madrid in November, have come when their rugged midfield of Didier Zokora and usually either Ndiri Romaric or the celebrated hardman Aldo Duscher - who infamously nearly ended David Beckham's chances of playing in the 2002 World Cup - are on form.

They close down the opposition, make crucial tackles and push the ball out wide quickly and often accurately. It isn't always pretty but it's usually effective.

was shown when he was absent at the Africa Cup of Nations during January and Sevilla produced several dismal performances.

It was then up to Navas, on the right, and either Diego Capel or Diego Perotti down the left to make the chances for Kanoute, Fabiano or Alvaro Negredo.

The importance of getting to the quarter-finals is also crucial to Sevilla president Jose Maria Del Nido's long-term goals of being able to compete with Barca and Real more seriously on the domestic stage.

Unlike Spain's perennial top two, who seem to treat La Liga as a secondary target behind continental success, Del Nido's biggest ambition is to add to Sevilla's one and only Spanish title which was won back in 1946.

Since taking over in 2002, he has steadily increased the club's spending power and increased the budget by more than 10% annually in recent years to its current level of 100m euros.

In contrast to the hire-and-fire attitude of many Spanish football club presidents, De Nido has only had three coaches during his tenure.

Joaquin Caparros was the first until 2005 and Juande Ramos then took Sevilla to back-to-back Uefa Cup triumphs before his departure for Tottenham in October 2007 and has been there ever since.

Jimenez, a Sevilla hero as a player having played more than 400 games for the club, has indisputably done a fantastic job but

Sevilla's youth academy under the direction of 'Monchi' has developed talents such as Navas and Capel while his scouting network has found young, low-cost or under-performing talents such as Perrotti and Kanoute.

His wheeling and dealing on behalf of Del Nido can be seen to best effect with Dani Alves, who many consider to still be the best right-back in the world.

'Monchi', who joined Sevilla's backroom staff in 2000, signed Alves in 2002 from the Brazilian club Bahia for just under 1m euros and then in 2008 sold him to Barcelona for 35.5m euros. Lovely jubbly, as Del Boy would say.

"Getting to the next round (of the Champions League) means that we can balance the books for this season and hit our budget targets. It can be a springboard for next year," said Del Nido, a man whose other claim to fame is that he was the lawyer of the infamous

As for CSKA Moscow, with three league titles and five Russian cup victories in the last 10 years, they have been Russia's most successful side domestically over the last decade.

However, despite their Uefa Cup win in 2005, they have been put in the shade in recent years by Rubin Kazan, Russian Premier League winners for the last two years, and the 2007 Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg.

Last season, they finished fifth in the RPL, their first time outside the top three for eight years, but the arrival of the bulldog-faced Leonid Slutski in October, to replace the much-criticised Ramos, appears to have galvanised the team.

The big problem for Slutski is that Wednesday's game will be CSKA's first competitive match, with the starting in three weeks' time, since they won 2-1 at Besiktas in early December.

It raises questions about how match-sharp the Army Men are going to be but look out for Russian international goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, one of the few not to cop serious flak for trying to keep Sevilla from finding the net.

The exciting Serbian right-sided attacking midfielder Milos Krasic, a poor man's Cristiano Ronaldo if you like, could also cause problems for Sevilla's sometimes slow defence.

However, I have the feeling it will be who feel the cold after their long winter break and Sevilla are my bet to make the quarter-finals for the first time since 1958.

Comments on the blog in the space provided. Other questions on European football to europeanfootball@hotmail.co.uk. I don't need your full address but please put the town/city and country where you come from.

Here's a couple from last week's postbag.

Q) I was curious as to how Matt Derbyshire is getting on at Olympiakos since his permanent move there in the summer?
Brett Sellick, Honiton, Devon

A) This is pertinent considering the subject of my blog a couple of weeks ago, Why Do Brits Wilt Abroad?

However, he spent three months out of action at the start of the season with a groin strain.

He looks set to start against Bordeaux on Tuesday night, after missing all of his side's group matches through injury.

Q) As an avid Inter Milan fan I have been thoroughly impressed by Wesley Sneijder since his arrival from Real Madrid last summer. How do
you rate Sneijder, and do you think he is currently the best free-kick
taker in the world?
Luke Best, Milton Keynes

A) Funnily enough, I was a guest on Real Madrid TV a few weeks ago and this was one topic we talked about. Sneijder's been in great form since he left Real, it's been a new lease of life for him.

Is he best free-kick taker in the world at the moment? Possibly, but I wouldn't discount the claims of Valencia's David Villa while Milan's Ronaldinho continues to be a threat from more than 30 metres.

although I'm disappointed both writers leave out one of my childhood heroes, Rivelino.