Birthday

Today is the 23rd birthday of Joffrey Lauvergne, KK Partizan's first ever foreign team captain, member of the European Championship winner French national team, currently playing for Khimki Moscow.

(photo: pulsonline.rs)

Srećan rođendan, Žo kapiten!

Joyeux anniversaire!

Eurocup draws: KK Partizan in Group E

Eurocup draws were held today at noon. According to them KK Partizan is now in Group E of Conference 2, together with Lietuvos Vilnius, Hapoel Jerusalem, Banvit Bandirma, Volgograd and Asesoft Ploiesti.

The group stage, as follows:

Conference 1

Group A
Brose Baskets Bamberg (GER)
CAI Zaragoza (ESP)
Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia (ITA)
Strasbourg (FRA)
Paris Levallois (FRA)
Telekom Baskets Bonn (GER)

Group B
Pallacanestro Cantu (ITA)
Herbalife Gran Canaria (ESP)
Telenet Oostende (BEL)
ASVEL Lyon Villeurbanne (FRA)
JDA Dijon (FRA)
Artland Dragons (GER)

Group C
ČEZ Nymburk (CZE)
Baloncesto Sevilla (ESP)
Virtus Roma (ITA)
Belgacom Spirou Charleroi (BEL)
SLUC Nancy (FRA)
EWE Baskets Oldenburg (GER)

Conference 2

Group D
Khimki Moscow (RUS)
Besiktas IF (TUR)
Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)
VEF Riga (LTV)
Union Olimpija Ljubljana (SLO)
Szolnoki Olaj (HUN)

Group E
Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius (LTH)
Banvit Bandirma (TUR)
Krasny Oktyabr Volgograd (RUS)
Partizan Beograd (SRB)
Hapoel Jerusalem (ISR)
CSU Asesoft Ploiesti (ROM)

Group F
Lokomotiv Kuban (RUS)
Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir (TUR)
Budućnost VOLI Podgorica (MNE)
Ventspils (LTV)
Stelmet Zielona Góra (POL)
PAOK Thessaloniki (GRE)

Something that Partizan-fans might find interesting, in Group D's Khimki plays Joffrey Lauvergne, while Budućnost (Group F) has Dejan Musli among their players.
Group stage starts in mid-October.

Update:
Partizan will start the group stage against Lietuvos Rytas on 15th October.

RK Jugović - RK Partizan 33:21 (Handball SuperLiga Round 2)

I want to take the opportunity and let all those in responsible quarters know, I’d be more than happy if I didn’t have to literally extract the result of the match from the depths of internet and decipher the names of goal scorers and other match facts from a barely readable supervisor’s report. I’d be higly obliged if handball got more space in sports news in general, because if there’s a superleague, we should at least honour the teams, players, coaches and last but not least the fans to publish the results in time. (I don’t even dare to ask for pictures and/or video highlights.)
As for the match, the result was in the opponent’s favour in the half time (15:8). Partizan’s best players were Sretenović, Radojković and Mršulja, each of them scoring 4-4 goals. They are followed by Ilić and Popović (3-3 goals) as well as Jokanović, Stevanović and Živković (1-1 goal).

Current championship standings:

1. Železničar 4 points
2. Crvena Zvezda 3 points
3. Metaloplastika 3 points
4. Požarevac 2 points
5. Jugović 2 points
6. Spartak Vojput 2 points
7. Partizan 2 points
8. Rudar Kostolac 1 point
9. Planinka 1 point
10. Kolubara 0 point

Alley-oop! - Vladimir Lučić style

KK Partizan’s former player, Vladimir Lučić had a class movement at a match with his current team, Valencia. Even the Spanish speaker is about to die from joy.

Weekend football round cancelled

Jelen SuperLiga Round 7 was about to be held this Sunday, but most of the matches are postponed to Monday - except for Partizan - OFK Beograd, that is postponed "until further decision". Behind of it all stands Gay Pride of Belgrade that will be organized on Sunday. Those in charge surely got cold shivers by the thought Pride attendands and football fans might cross each others' ways.
Marko Nikolić made no secret about his disappointment.
- This is the first of such a case in my coach career - he said angrily (which can be understood...). - Nothing is certain, we don't know when and where we will play against OFK. I can't believe it. We are serious people, we play in a professional league. It is highly irresponsible that we play on Wednesday, but we don't know when our next match will be held. Our entire training plan is scheduled by the dates of matches. Right now all is uncertain.

A message from me to all those in charge: you made the worst possible timing, I can only congratulate to you all. Don't take me wrong though, I'm not against gay rights, on the contrary. But there are things that MUST be taken into consideration. In a country like Serbia, where football is sacred and untouchable, such a decision that a Pride festival is held at the expenses of the current football league round is highly irresponsible. It was clearly made without considering the possible consequences. Football is more important than Pride, everyone must accept it. Other than this it must not be swept under the carpet that Serbia, similarly to other countries in the area (e.g. Hungary, among others) have a quite conservative society, that is very sensitive and resistent when it is about so-called liberal processes. I don't want to get into political or social-psychological details now, for this there are experts who know them much better than me. The only thing I want to add is that it was organized in a very unfortunate way, leaving important factors out of consideration. I understand that rights and EU are important (well, for some, surely...), but not this way, without thinking it through.

Coming up: RK Jugović - RK Partizan Handball SuperLiga Round 2 today

Today at 7 pm Partizan’s handball team plays against RK Jugović as the guests of the Vojvodina team. The match will be held at the Kać sports hall.
The thing is, I have an absolute lack of information about the match, even the match's starting hour could be found at a sports betting page. Most important is, that Partizan enters the battle from the 4th place of the league table, while Jugović is just one above the last.

52 years ago today

Dragan Mance was born 52 years ago today.

(image: partizan.rs)

Legenda živi!

Legends live forever.

(image: Google)

FK Bežanija - FK Partizan 0:1 (Serbian Cup, 1/16 finals)

I apologize to everyone for bringing you such a weak match review. A virus knocked me out, approx. the same way as Fofana’s goal did the Novi Beograd team yesterday. I watched the match from bed, when I could keep my eyes open at all.
So, as I was kind enough to give you spoilers right at the beginning, Fofana scored the match’s only goal in the 37th minute.

Partizan played with a team consisting of mostly substitutes. Marko Nikolić clearly wanted the key people to have some rest.

Živko Živković was in charge at the goal line

Partizan dominated the match, Bežanija barely had chances. They had one in the first half, but goalkeeper Živković saved it. Then in the 2nd half they had two in a row in the 55th minute. The first was saved by Partizan’s goalkeeper, the second shot hit the side net.
There are more photos.

The goal:

The facts:

Location: FK Obilić Stadium
Number of spectators: 1000
Referee: Igor Stoilković (linesmen: Vukan Gordić, Darko Karanović - substitute referee: Nemanja Petković)

FK Bežanija: Ostojić - Dos Santos, Mustur, Matović, Milić, Stanovčić - Brujić (Rakić, 44.), Jelić (Zorica, 86.), Šaka (Subotić, 69.) - Đoković
Head coach: Vanja Radinović

FK Partizan - Ž. Živković - Vulićević, Petrović, Stanković, Ćirković - Ninković, A. Živković, S. Ilić, Marković - Fofana, Lazović
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Goal scoarer: Fofana (37.)
Yellow card: Lazović (76.)

Partizan qualified themselves to the 1/8 final.

(photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

Coming up: FK Bežanija - FK Partizan Serbian Cup (1/16 finals) tomorrow

Tomorrow at 16:00 Partizan starts against second league team FK Bežaninja at the field of Vračar.
- Cup matches are always special events, where a surprise may always occur - said Marko Nikolić. - Therefore we must be cautious. But our aim is clear, we want to win the cup.
The coach has the pleasant problem of abundance of strikers. Besides the two permanent ones, Lazović and Škuletić there is Fofana, and Nikolić gave a hint about the possiblity of Kojić’s appearance. Yet there are doubts about Drinčić, the midfielder was injured on Sunday’s super league match.
None of the channels will broadcast the match, we can rely only on fkpartizan.rs's live scoring.

Update: ArenaSport 1 broadcasts it live.

KK Partizan 2nd at Appart City Cup

KK Partizan finshed second at Appart City Cup in Montpellier. They met Asvel in the final, the result was 80:64 for the French team.
Gagić was in great form again, he scored 18 points, followed by Murić and Marinković, both adding 13-13 points to the result. Andrić scored 9, Tepić 4, Bogdanović 3, while Dallo and Šalić both 2. Aranitović, Kouzeloglou, Milutinov and Glišić did not score at the match.

(photos: kkpartizan.rs)

Then Average Fan checks Twitter...

“@LeaderOfHorde: Léo WESTERMANN: http://t.co/YjVDkJ0bwz @lwestermann BRAVOOO LEOOOO , SRECNO BRATEEE ! :)” brat moj ☺️kako ide u istanbulu?
— Westermann Léo (@lwestermann) September 22, 2014

Faith in humanity restored.

Radnički 1923 - FK Partizan 0:3 (Jelen SuperLiga Round 6)

Warming up before match

The first action could be seen in the 4th minute, until then there was only some passing-the-ball-here-and-there on the field. Partizan got a free kick, the goalkeeper touched Drinčić’s shot, corner.
In the 8th minute Radnički got a free kick, facing right the goal line, maybe about 2 metres from the penalty area line. The weather was bright and sunny in Kragujevac on this Sunday afternoon, so sunny that it was shining right into Lukač’s eyes. Not for Perović, but he still shot way too high, the ball left the field far above the goalpost.
Two minutes later penalty for Partizan! Vulićević ran up fast on the right side, at the penalty area he got Poljanec on his back. They kept on pushing each other so hard that finally the Partizan-player fell onto the grass. The referee pointed immediately at the penalty point and showed the yellow card to the heavily complaining Poljanec. Škuletić stood behind the ball. He run, kicked...

...and 0:1.
Some time around the 14th minute the home team had a weak try, but it was so weak even ArenaSport didn’t bother to replay in slow motion.
Then Partizan scored again.
In the 18th minute Pantić came up on the left side and with a great pace he jumped over the defender that had the intention to tackle him in a rough manner. The ball got to Živković who passed it to Grbić with a fantastic "oxford" movement...

...Grbić dribbled among the defenders inside the penalty area, then Škuletić got the ball and didn’t hesitate for a moment. He shot and scored. 0:2
Poljanec had a shot from far in the 24th minute, the ball flew out of the field, goal-kick. Three minutes later Perović tried another distant kick, even this one didn’t mean any headache for Lukač.
Then the only interesting events were a Radnički-corner and a yellow card. The pace was slower than medium, the game was going on mostly on the midfield, none of the teams had too many chances to attack. Then in the 42nd minute Branko Ilić made a distant shot, goalkeeper Trifunović made a "flying approach" to save. It was followed by a counter-attack by the home team, but the distant shot avoided Lukač’s place.
Around the end of the half Radnički started to build up attacks, but they were all blocked by Partizan-defenders. Lukač kept on doing a great job as well, if it was needed. (Otherwise he could have even had some sunbath.)

The second half started with a great chance. Škuletić got the ball from Grbić, Radnički’s goalkeeper had a huge save. In the 51st minute again Škuletić had a chance after a Grbić-Živković teamwork, Trifunović had a great moment again.
In the next minute Drinčić fell on the grass with a painful grimace after a clash, and he seemingly had huge pain, well, in his bottom.

Until the 57th minute there was only a free kick for Radnički and Živković was kicked to the ground. Then the home team got another free kick, Lukač saved.

Match photo: Ćirković and his amazingly long arm

Radnički kept on trying more and more, or rather Partizan let the opponent come up and they made a "bunker" around their penalty area. In the 61st minute Perović had a shot from the distance, but it flew out near the goalpost. In the 64th minute Lukač checkmated another try.
Then the substitutes brought the only excitement, finally, in the 76th minute Stanković headed Živković’s pass too high. In the 82nd minute entered Ivan Petrović, debuting at his first ever match wearing Partizan’s jersey.
The home team tried again in the 86th minute. The shot came from the right side in a very sharp angle, but flew away to the left side of the goal area.
Then in the 89th minute an upheaval stirred up inside Radnički’s penalty area. Finally Saša Ilić emerged from the chaos and shot the ball into the net. 0:3

And happiness :)

Goals:

Facts:

Location: Čika Dača Stadium, Kragujevac
Number of spectators: 3000
Referee: Majo Vujović (linesmen: Matija Olajos-Nagy, Jovica Milin - substitute referee: Srđan Kaurin - goal referees: Nenad Đokić, Milorad Milićević)

FK Partizan: Lukač - Vulićević, Ćirković, Stanković, N. Petrović - Grbić, B. Ilić, Drinčić (S. Ilić, 71.), A. Živković (I. Petrović, 85.) - Pantić (Lazović, 66.) - Škuletić
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Radnički 1923: Trifunović - Terzić, Kmeta, Bubanja, Jašić - Perović, Ćulum (Todorović, 64.), Vidić (Kovačević, 41.), Arsić, Pojanec (S. Živković, 80.) - Sotirović
Head coach: Dragoljub Bekvalac

Goal scoarers: Škuletić (10. - penalty, 18.), S. Ilić (89.)
Yellow card: Poljanec (10.), Stanković (33.), N. Petrović (35.), Drinčić (52.), Sotirović (79.)

Current championship standings:
1. Partizan 18 points
2. Crvena Zvezda 16
3. Vojvodina 15
4. OFK Beograd 11
5. Mladost 10
6. Spartak Zlatibor Voda 10
7. Čukarički 9
8. Borac 8
9. Donji Srem 8
10. Rad 7
11. Novi Pazar 7
12. Jagodina 5
13. Radnički 1923 4
14. Radnički Niš 3
15. Napredak 3
16. Voždovac 0

(photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

RK Partizan - RK Planinka 33:30

The handball team started the season with a win, beating RK Planinka with 3 goals. Partizan’s most effective player was that Mihajlo Radojković, who showed great qualities even at Kanjiža Cup in the summer, scoring 8 times into the opponent’s net. He is followed by Sretenović and Živković, both shooting 6 goals. Popović and Radovanović added 3-3 scores, Ilić, Pantelić and Kukić all shot 2-2 goals and Igor Mršulja also added one to the final result.

The championship standing after round 1:

1. Spartak Vojput 2p
2. Železničar 2p
3. Partizan 2p
4. Crvena Zvezda 2p
5. Metaloplastika 2p
6. Rudar Kostolac 0p
7. Planinka 0p
8. Požarevac 0p
9. Jugović 0p
10. Kolubara 0p

Photo of the day

Graffitti on the stadium wall to remember the UEFA European Cup final of 21st May, 1966.

(photo: pafteq)

Coming up: Radnički 1923 - FK Partizan tomorrow (Jelen SuperLiga Round 6)

Tomorrow Partizan goes to Kragujevac to battle with local Workers.

It sounds terrible in English, doesn’t it? Let’s try it one more time...

Tomorrow Partizan goes to Kragujevac to battle with local Radnički.

Much better.

The situation isn’t too easy. Both Ostojić and Brašanac are injured, Volkov won’t play either for recrudescent pains. Good news is that Škuletić will strenghten the striker line tomorrow. UEFA’s ban does not apply for home championships.

That would be the last straw.

- We want to keep up our good series - said Marko Nikolić at the press conference. - Right now the match against Radnički is much more important than the one we played against Tottenham. We must keep up being motivated, being enthusiastic, because SuperLiga, our country’s championship is our real field. We want to win again.

Match starts at 4 pm, ArenaSport 1 broadcasts it live.

Alley-oop!

That's how it goes.
Great job by Boris Dallo and Edo Murić against Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez at Appart City Cup in France.

Handball season kicks off!

Today, or rather tomorrow, so, on 20th starts the handball 2014/15 season. RK Partizan welcomes RK Planinka Prolom Voda Kuršumlija.

If you don't mind, I'd rather call them just RK Planinka.

Match starts at 18:00, before that RK Partizan 2 meets RK Bask Soko at 16:00.
Something to remember: Instead of the Banjica sports hall the matches will take part at Hala Slodes, near Park Miljakovački izbori.
None of the TV channels broadcasts it, so either you make your way to Borska 92/f or stay at home praying silently.

Reconstruction of the stadium field has started

A machine started to shell the field, slowly but surely.
Photos: mozzartsport.com

Funeral of Milan Galić

Today at 1 pm family members, friends, former teammates and delegates of Partizan’s team management said farewell for the very last time to Partizan’s former striker. The funeral was held in Belgrade’s New Public Cemetery.

(photo: hotsport.rs)

Photos from yesterday's match

I brought you some images about yesterday's match against Tottenham Hotspur. All of them are from Partizan's Facebook-page.

Photos about the banner covering the southern tribune

Grbić in the role of "steam roller"

Trainers

Ballet Pantić-style

Danilo Pantić in action

...and he keeps the ball

The Boss

Grbić was faster than Tottenham’s player

Luka got just 5 minutes, but he used it well

One of Lukač’s great saves

Here he is punching the ball out of the penalty area

Saša Marković and Nemanja Petrović

High five to Grbić after he came off the field

Ćirković did a good job

Stanković passes the ball back to Lukač

Townsend’s free kick

Grobari

Fans

Volkov is wrestling with a player from the opponent

Vulićević vs. Townsend

Vulićević escapes with the ball

Partizan published an official statement dissociating themselves from the racist, anti-Semitistic banner of yesterday. UEFA in the meantime started the process against the team. If there is any news concerning this process, the blog will be updated immediately.

Update:
UEFA will decide about the consequences of the racist banner on 3rd October. Yet it seems so, Partizan must deal with more issues as well, just as fans throwing firecrackers during the match or the fan who rushed on the field after the final whistle.