Highlights of the transfer season - part 2

This weekend is the re-start of the football season, it is high time to look through the further happenings of the transfer market. There had been a blogpost earlier about it, you can read it here.

The soap opera around Andrija Živković made the biggest upheaval during the transfer period. I wrote two individual blogposts about it. In the first you can read about the reasons behind as well as the media war between Ivica Iliev and the Živković family, while in the second you find details about Pini Zahavi (who is the main figure behind this long and painful drama), also you can see what kind of methods the team’s management tried to make Živković sign another contract.

Of course the Živković-saga hasn’t ended yet. The final episode (or at least the next season) will come some time in the beginning of the summer.

Andrija Živković at the match against Augsburg

On 17th January FK Partizan signed Ivory Coast player Cédric Gogoua. Gogua plays as a defender, he is 21 years old

though there had been rumours about his actual age. Some sources claimed he is at least 23 if not older, but there has been no confirmation, nor deny about it

and he signed to Partizan for 4 years.

Cédric Gogoua

(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

In the meantime there had been rumours about Zoran Milinković as well. The ex-head coach is allegedly still the employee of FK Partizan - but this time as a scout.

Partizan’s ice hockey team got five new players from Russia: 29-year-old Anton Zhukov, 25-year-old Alexander Vlasov, 26-year-old Aleksey Tifonov, 27-year-old Igor Zubov and 25-year-old Stepan Krivov.

Alexei Tikhonov

Alexander Vlasov

Anton Zhukov

Igor Zubov

Stepan Krivov

(photos: Facebook/Hokejaški klub Partizan (Fan page))

Meanwhile a very nerve-racking period of the transfer season started, titled as "should he stay or should he go"

like a twisted cover of the classic song by The Clash

around three players: Ivan Bandalovski, Valeri Bojinov and Aboubakar Oumarou.
For long it looked that Ivan Bandalovski must leave ul. Humska. Head coach Ivan Tomić allegedly made it clear that he does not need the Bulgarian defender, he is free to go wherever he wants. Yet some time in the first days of February the management changed their mind and quickly extended the contract with Bandalovski. So, Bandalovski will stay, his place is as solid as a piece of concrete.
Valeri Bojinov was on the list of an unnamed Chinese team. Partizan’s price for the Bulgarian striker was 2 million euros, the Chinese part offered 1 million. For quite a while it seemed, Partizan will still make a deal, but eventually the business failed to get done.
Bojinov in the meantime had a sad tour in the Serbian media claiming that he doesn’t want to leave Partizan at all, but he knows well that the club is in a very bad financial condition because of the Živković-case, and he certainly puts the team’s interest ahead of his own. But, sighed Bojinov, how much I would have wanted to win an eternal derby with Partizan and to score at least 12 goals in the season.

Well, you got the chance, meatball. But then keep on scoring those goals, because I fucking won’t have enough nerves to count your missed-out chances.

Yet it’s still not clear what happens to Aboubakar Oumarou. He also got an offer from China. The offer seemed to be very serious, the press even got informations about the alleged price (1,2 million euros), Aboubakar was told to pack his suitcases, because he is going to China.
Then he didn’t.
It was that time of the year when Chinese people celebrated the Lunar New Year. It’s the biggest holiday in China, it lasts at least for a week. The Chinese negotiator just said, they’d be back after the holiday season, then they disappeared. At Partizan the management was just shrugging being puzzled, then Iliev appeared in front of the press and said, all right, then Aboubakar stays at Partizan, because (citation!) the management carefully considered the interests of the team and they thought that it would definitely be for Partizan’s best interest if the Cameroonian stayed in Belgrade.

They obviously realized that if they sell Aboubakar, there will be only 2 (two) strikers left: Bojinov and Fofana, who just returned back from loan. There are two youngsters as well, 17-year-old Đorđe Jovanović and 16-year-old Dušan Vlahović, who are both extremely talented, but well, in some cases routine and experience are essential.

Only one day passed after Iliev’s announcement, when the Chinese negotiator sent their official offer for Aboubakar (price tag: 1 million euros). So, Iliev took a deep breath

I imagine how hard he could be sweating

stepped again to the journalists and announced that well, erm, ahem, you know, we may actually still sell out our Cameroonian player for a special bargain. That’s how things stand at the moment, as soon as there’s any more news, everyone will be informed.

The other big event of the transfer season was that Nikola Ninković signed to Italian team Genoa, but he was put immediately on loan to Chievo until the end of the season.
Partizan terminated the contract with several players. Nikola Trujić was discharged on 1st February. Fabricio was sent back to Brazil. Predrag Luka was also fired. Filip Knežević left by himself and signed to Čukarički. Among "black sheeps" only Živko Živković stayed at Partizan, but he is exiled to Teleoptik together with the other Živković, Andrija.
There were news about the possible selling of Vulićević, too - Turkish team Sivasspor wanted to buy him, but they couldn’t agree, as Iliev reported later. Russian team Rubin Kazan wanted to sign Marko Jevtović, but Partizan priced him to 2,5 million euros, and that was too much for the Russians.
Other than them there were those whom Partizan would have wanted to sign, but failed: Dino Ndlovu from South Africa (his club didn’t want to sell him), Seydouba Soumah from Guinea (no info about why this signing failed, it looked almost 100 % sure) as well as Léandre Tawamba from Cameroon (his team priced him for 1,25 million, that was too much for Partizan).

As a summary, 6 players arrived (Marko Jovanović, Bojan Šaranov, Nemanja Mihajlović, Luiz Everton, Cédric Gogoua + Fofana returned from loan) - 8 players left (Babović, Grbić, Fabricio, Šaponjić, Ninković, Trujić, Luka, Knežević) and two other players’ fate is still not clear (Andrija Živković, Aboubakar Oumarou). I do not say any predictions, we will see everything this weekend.
Until then here is a fresh, crispy team photo about FK Partizan.

(photo: partizan.rs)

FK Partizan - Augsburg 1:3 (UEFA Europa League)

It’s just fucking hard now.
I can’t find the words. It just doesn’t work. Even if I deliberately slept it over.
What the hell could one say about it?...
The qualifying to the 1/16 final was in an arm’s length away. We were just an arm’s length away from Europe... and we couldn’t.
It was told before the match, the Germans need a 3:1 victory to qualify. For us even a 0:0 draw would have been enough.
And what was the result of this game?... 3:1 to Augsburg.
If I was about to make conspiracy theories, I’d say, the goddamned UEFA by default didn’t want Partizan to qualify, that’s why they sent here this lousy, cat-eater Italian, who refereed the game as it must have never been refereed. It was clear, even from distance that he hated to be there, he hated Partizan and wished to be as far from here as possible.

German fans set the tribune on fire before the game...

(photo: Twitter)

...Grave Diggers’ answer was this...

(photo: hotsport.rs)

(photo: hotsport.rs)

...and this

(photo: Twitter)

Partizan’s water polo team were on the tribune, they came to support the football players

(photo: waterpolopartizan.rs)

The start of the game

(photo: hotsport.rs)

Partizan’s starting 11

(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

You can see, Saša Ilić was not in the starting eleven.
Saša Ilić stayed on the bench for the entire game, he didn’t play even for a minute.
This wasn’t the only hair-raising anomaly in this match though.
We attacked right in the first minute. Andrija Živković crossed from the right, the goalkeeper caught it. Augsburg had a counter-attack, a player had a distant shot to our goal, it was way too high.
We were still in the 2nd minute, Andrija Živković got the ball on the right side. He made a row of fantastic dribbles, but the defenders kicked him on the ground. Free kick, from the line of the penalty area. Defenders headed it out, corner-kick.
In the 7th minute Bobadilla had a sudden, distant shot to our goal, but it was too high.
Then in the 11th minute Aboubakar got a fantastic pass. He ran up all alone, then shot and scored a giant goal. A-BOOM-bakar!!! 1:0!!! WE ARE LEADING!!!!

(photos: hotsport.rs)

This goal made Augsburg collapse. Even though they had two attempts after this, one in the 17th, the other in the 21st minute, but both avoided our goal. (First Stafylidis had a too high shot, then Trochowski attempted, but a leg appeared out of the blue and touched the ball, making the shot too wide.)
Then came the referee.
In the 22nd minute he whistled off a non-existing foul. Ninković tackled the German player arriving on the right. Džigi made it absolutely perfectly, even the slow motion replay confirmed it, but the referee ruthlessly gave a free kick to Augsburg. Our defenders headed it downfield, Andrija Živković could run up with an amazing dribble, just he gave himself a way too long pass.
Two minutes later Aboubakar sent a great cross from the right. Brašanac headed it to the goal, the goalkeeper saved. A minute later again Aboubakar passed the ball, now to Andrija Živković. Žile ran up, dribbled, then shot, the goalkeeper saved this one, too. Another minute later Brašanac headed upfield in the middle, crossed to Andrija Živković. Živković shot, it ended with a corner-kick.
In the 32nd minute Stafylidis had again a weak attempt, then almost immediately Janker brutally kicked Subić to the ground inside our penalty area. Subić was laying on the ground for long, finally he could stand up and continue playing - the referee didn’t whistle, there was no yellow card or any other retortion.
In the 34th minute again Stafylidis crossed from the right. It was very dangerous, Callsen-Bracker jumped up for the ball, Živko Živković had a great save.
In the 37th minute Callsen-Bracker fell on the ground after Ninković invalidated him. The German played "the dying swan", it took long minutes while the medicals picked his pieces together and carried him off the field. The game was on halt

by the way, the referee’s duty would be here to send everyone off the field, injured as well as medicals to continue giving assistance near the sideline, out of the field, so that teams can continue the game, wouldn’t it?

Then Partizan played defensive for quite a while. We were at the very end of the first half, playing the minutes of extra time, when the referee again stepped out of the dark. He gave a yellow card to Andrija Živković for a non-existing foul

he and Bandalovski were wrestling with an Augsburg-player at the sideline, then the guest player fell on the ground, the referee whistled it off, but I swear, my impression was that this rotten cat-eater guido was deliberately seeking for the chance to kill Živković

as well as a free kick for the Germans. The kick was headed to our net by Hong - it looked as if the ball dropped even on Živko Živković’s hand, but there was a too big goalmouth scramble, I’m not sure if I could see it clearly. 1:1

Živko Živković’s desperate face as he watches the ball dropping into the net

(photo: hotsport.rs)

The second half started with a German attempt. Trochowski shot, luckily a foot touched the ball, so it could avoid our net (it would have been most probably another goal otherwise). Thankfully the referee didn’t notice the foot, which almost surely belonged to a Partizan-player and whistled for goal-kick.
In the 50th minute Andrija Živković ran upfield and passed to Aboubakar. The Cameroonian dribbled, then he was kicked to the ground. (No, the referee didn’t whistle.)
A minute later it was 1:2.
I swear on anything that it was from offside, but there was no flag up. A very long pass came from deep, Dutch player Verhaegh jumped out and scored. (You can watch it here, if you have the heart for it.)
In the 52nd minute we got a free kick at the corner of Augsburg’s penalty area. Andrija Živković shot, the goalkeeper saved.
In the 56th minute Bobadilla crossed to the other side of our penalty area, to Ji. The Korean headed it to our goal line, Živko Živković saved. A minute later Aboubakar sent a big pass to Brašanac. Brašanac ran up, made a huge solo, fought himself through the defenders, then shot, the goalkeeper saved it. In the 60th minute again Aboubakar got the ball and passed to Ninković. Ninković ran up, dribbled, shot, it was too wide.

My nerves were wrecked way before the game. At this point I was in a catatonia, laying on the floor. I didn’t even have the strength to cry for a defibrillator. And the end was still way too far.

In the 61st minute Trochowski had a sudden, distant shot, Živko Živković had a great save.

Why does Živković have to stay on the bench?... Don’t take me wrong, I have nothing against Kljajić, he is skilled and talented, but Živković have these cat-alike reflexes. Just because someone had this idea that he made too many mistakes earlier?... Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is always the easiest to blame the goalkeeper for lost games. Kljajić is a great player, but he may need a bit more time to mature...

In the 69th minute a cross came from the left, Živko Živković caught it.
In the 71st minute we got a free kick, from about 25 metres. Andrija Živković shot, Ćirković headed it to the goal, it was a great movement, but the referee whistled it off, for him it was offside.
In the 73rd minute Ninković sent a distant, amazing cannon shot to the goal. The ball hit the crossbar and dropped to Andrija Živković. Živković shot, it was too wide.
In the 77th minute Živko Živković had a GIANT save with his leg (!!!). Earlier a Partizan-player was kicked to the ground again, the referee didn’t whistle again, even though our player stayed laying on the field. Brazilian player Caiuby ran up and shot, Živko Živković saved not just the goal line, but also fans from another heart attack.

We had quite a few of them during the game...

In the 79th minute we played "pinball football" on Augsburg’s half, passing the ball very quickly among each other, finally the ball dropped to Ninković. Ninković ran up on the left side, dribbled and shot, just barely missing the goal.
And here the referee sent off Andrija Živković.
The reason was simple, Žile touched the ball with his hand, and he already had a yellow card. He had to leave the field.

You rotten mafioso idiot referee, I hope you’re satisfied that you could turn off Partizan’s best player...

After this Andrija Živković was watching the game standing at the tunnel

(photo: mondo.rs)

In the 88th minute Brašanac got a fantastic pass. He run up all alone in the middle, shot, it was too high.

(photo: hotsport.rs)

The 89th minute brought the coup de grace.
Augsburg attacked, with the usual goalmouth scramble. Suddenly Caiuby headed the ball to Bobadilla. The Paraguayan had nothing else to do than walk into the net with it. He did so. 1:3
That was the end.
End of the game, end of all hopes.

(photos: hotsport.rs)

Here is a video about the moments right after the final whistle. It says more than any words.

I won’t put any video highlights here. Sorry. On one hand UEFA blocked all videos, as usual, on the other I just have no heart for that. If you want to see it, you can search for it, you’ll surely find it uploaded, if not else, then the goals.

Here I’d like to take the opportunity to congratulate Lazar Marković and Petar Škuletić that their teams (Fenerbahce and Lokomotiv Moscow) qualified to the 1/16 final of the Europa League. An extra high five to Markec for his fantastic goal.

After the game hell broke loose. Head coach Ljubinko Drulović plain and simply didn’t go to the post-match press conference. A few journalists could catch him as he tried to sneak out - he said something to them that he had a very important discussion with Iliev, that’s why he didn’t take part at the conference, then he disappeared.

WTF?... How?... And why?... It’s just impossible that the head coach deliberately misses out the press conference. No matter how many goals we get, no matter how deep is the shit we are in, the head coach must stand out and talk to the press. Responsibility, my ass...

After this even crazier rumours started to circulate. B92 talked about the entire Partizan-presidency resigning after the match. Though they added, these news are not confirmed. Unfortunately they are still not.

Rumours speak about raging Partizan-fans surrounding the club’s headquarters, demanding the resigning of the leadership. Press says the presidency collapsed for this heavy pressure and resigned. It smells a bit like Njuz.net, but if it really happens so, I’ll celebrate with champagne.

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 20 000
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (assistants: Alessandro Giallatini, Matteo Passeri - 4th assistant: Filippo Melli - goal line assistants: Marco Guida, Andrea Gervasoni) - ITA

FK Partizan: Ž. Živković - Bandalovski, Ćirković, Fabricio, Subić (Petrović, 64.) - Brašanac - A. Živković, Babović, Jevtović, Ninković (Grbić, 83.) - Aboubakar
Head coach: Ljubinko Drulović

FC Augsburg: Hitz - Verhaegh, Janker, Callsen-Bracker (Hong, 40.), Stafylidis (Max, 80.) - Koo (Caiuby, 60.), Baier, Trochowski, Ji - Bobadilla, Matavz
Head coach: Markus Weinzierl

Goal scorers: Aboubakar (11.), Hong (45+1.), Verhaegh (51.), Bobadilla (89.)
Yellow card: Ninković (36.), A. Živković (45+1), Bobadilla (90.)
Red card: A. Živković (80. - second yellow card)

FK Voždovac - FK Partizan 0:1 (Serbian Cup, 1/8 final)

Victory: check.
Qualfiying for the next round: check.
Another serious injury for Vulićević: check.

All right, all right, I won’t speak too soon, let’s just see all events in order, one after the other.

I don’t know whose idea it was to put a football match for Wednesday, early in the afternoon. Whomever it was, I send them my warmest greetings packed in a mail bomb.

The beginning of the game was eventless. There was a free kick for the home team in the 5th minute, it was an easy task for Živko Živković.

Other than this nothing happened. Really nothing. One could have peeled potatoes, played with electric train, cut fingernails, installed a plug into the wall or anything else. Nobody would have missed out anything. (Maybe only Aboubakar losing the ball every now and then...)

In the 12th minute we got a free kick, approx. 20 metres from the goal line. Ninković ran up, shot, it was too high. We were trying with attacks, pretty much with half speed, so that our attempts died away. Then in the 16th minute Babović was trying on the left side, then passed the ball to Ninković. Ninković crossed it to the middle, the ball rolled out through the baseline. Corner-kick, the goalkeeper caught the ball.
In the 19th minute Stojanović had a sudden, distant shot (he probably got fed up with the general fumbling and slow pace), it was way too high.

Subić and Ninković inactivate Stanković

(photo: hotsport.rs)

In the 20th minute Aboubakar got a cross from the left. The striker was standing right in front of the goal line, but the goalkeeper caught the ball. Two minutes later we got a free kick at the left sideline. Ninković shot it inside the penalty area, the defenders pushed the ball out through the base line. Corner-kick.
Then in the 24th minute the team captain of Voždovac and Vulićević clashed. Vulićević fell on the ground in such a misfortunate way that he had to be carried off the field on a stretcher.

The moment Vulićević falls

(photo: hotsport.rs)

Here you can see there’s big trouble - Vulićević is laying on the ground, Partizan-players are horrified, while home team members wave for medical assistance

(photo: partizan.rs)

Medicals arrived in a hurry and carried Partizan’s defender off

(photo: hotsport.rs)

An ambulance car took him to hospital

(photo: mozzartsport.com)

The first news were very worrying: broken arm, urgent operation, long weeks of recovery. Soon before writing this blogpost though mozzartsport.com cited Partizan’s team doctor, Dr. Ilija Rosić. He accompanied Vulićević to the hospital and he said, Partizan’s defender has no broken bones. His elbow has dislocated though and his ligaments are torn. He’ll have to wear plaster on his arm for at least 3 weeks.
In the 29th minute we started a counter-attack after a Voždovac-free kick. Ninković ran up, crossed to Aboubakar in the middle - all the Cameroonian striker had to do is to head it into the net. He did so. 0:1

(photos: partizan.rs)

(photo: hotsport.rs)

The next event was just a small pause in the 42nd minute. The field was covered with smoke, Grave Diggers lighted their torches and made a happy bonfire.

(photo: Twitter)

The last action of the first half happened in the 43rd minute. Andrija Živković was dribbling, then passed the ball to Aboubakar. He forwarded it to Babović, Babović to Ninković, Ninković shot, the goalkeeper saved.

Saša Ilić in the half-time

(photo: partizan.rs)

Albert Nagy was also present at the stands

(Does anyone know where I could buy such a cap?)

(photo: hotsport.rs)

Like a boss - creative way to watch a football game for free

(photo: hotsport.rs)

In the second half, at the 49th minute Brašanac possessed the ball. He crossed it to Ninković in the left. Ninković served the ball with a fantastic pass (it looked as if Džigi was holding the ball on a golden plate) to Babović in the middle. All doors and windows were open, but Babović again made that typical mistake that instead of shooting he started to position himself. The defenders easily tackled him.
In the 53rd minute Brašanac and Andrija Živković were playing "pinball" with the ball, then Živković crossed it to the middle to Ninković. Ninković shot with a fantastic bicycle kick, but defenders blocked his attempt. The ball dropped to Jevtović, he shot from the distance, the goalkeeper saved.
In the 57th minute Srećković had a sudden, distant shot, too high.
Then nothing happened for more than 10 minutes. The game was going mostly on our half, but Voždovac didn’t have even a shot on target. Finally in the 69th minute we started a counter-attack. Andrija Živković ran up, passed to Ninković, Ninković shot, the goalkeeper saved. Two minutes later Saša Ilić got the ball inside Voždovac’s penalty area. He passed it ahead to Aboubakar, Aboubakar shot, too wide.
In the 79th minute Andrija Živković got a pass, ran up and crossed it to the goalmouth. Ninković arrived, but the goalkeeper caught it. A minute later we again started a counter-attack after a corner-kick by Voždovac. Saša Ilić passed to Andrija Živković, he forwarded it to Ninković. Ninković shot, too high.
In the 83rd minute after a free kick by the home team Ninković clashed with a Voždovac-player. It looked to be an ordinary foul, that kind which happens a million times at every football game. The retorsion is usually just a free kick, then everything is back on track.
But not this time.
Referee Stoilković showed the yellow card to Ninković, nobody knows why. It was a disproportional punishment for such a small foul. The entire Partizan-bench jumped up, Ljubinko Drulović explained something to the referee with big gestures, but he couldn’t convince him.

(photo: partizan.rs)

Voždovac attacked desperately. In the 85th minute Zlatković got a cross from the other side of the field. He shot, it was too wide.
There was one attempt left for the very last minute. Bojinov shot from the distance, the ball almost flew out of the stadium.

(photo: hotsport.rs)m

Highlights:

Facts:

Venue: Obilić na Vračaru stadum, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 2000
Referee: Igor Stoilković (assistants: Vukan Gordić, Dragan Bogičević - 4th assistant: Milan Jeremić)

FK Voždovac: Milošević - Stanković, Mihajlović, Jovanović, Radivojević - Sinđić, M. Pavlović - Marinković, Stojanović (Ristović, 70.), Srećković (Odita, 62.) - Masović (Zlatković, 77.)
Head coach: Bratislav Živković

FK Partizan: Ž. Živković - Vulićević (Petrović, 27.), Bandalovski, Ćirković, Subić - Jevtović, Brašanac - A. Živković, Babović (S. Ilić, 68.), Ninković (Bojinov, 90.) - Aboubakar
Head coach: Ljubinko Drulović

Goal scorer: Aboubakar (29.)
Yellow card: Ćirković (28.), Mihajlov (64.), Babović (56.), Trujić (87.)

AZ Alkmaar - FK Partizan 1:2 (UEFA Europa League)

We won!!!
What a game it was, my God.
Average Fan died a couple of times, resurrected, died again, resurrected again... and at the end shed tears, without feeling ashamed.

This photo was taken the day before the game with fans of Partizan and CSKA Moscow. Russian fans were also present to support Partizan and Grave Diggers

(photo: Twitter)

Our starting eleven

(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

We didn’t start too aggressively, the Dutch team took advantage of it and attacked heavily. In the first 15 minutes we got stuck around our penalty area. They kept on possessing the ball, Partizan’s only hope was that they can’t break the defensive wall. In the 12th minute dos Santos shot from the penalty area line, Kljajić saved. Two minutes later Dutch team had a "pinball style" attack inside our penalty area. Three of their players had an attempt to goal, all of them were blocked by our defenders. Then in the 15th minute we could finally break out. Brašanac passed the ball to Andrija Živković on the right. Živković ran up and shot, the attempt ended in a corner kick. After the kick the ball dropped to Babović, he shot, it was too wide.
In the 17th minute again the home team attacked. A cross shot came from the left, the ball rolled through between Kljajić’s hands, cardial arrest, but the ball rolls away to the other side of the penalty area, where there was no Alkmaar-player, for our great luck. It ended in a goal-kick.
In the 19th minute Alkmaar attacked again, now Brežančić shot from the left side, Kljajić caught it.

In the meantime one follows continuously the other match of Group L. At this point Bilbao was leading to 1:0 against Augsburg. Great, fantastic, if Bilbao wins over Germans, that’s the best for us, if we can also win, then even a draw is enough in the last round to qualify to the 1/16 final.

The opponent started to slow down, their big pace from the beginning was gone. For some reason we could’t make any advantage of it though... We kept on passing the ball backwards and even though we could make sometimes to the Dutch penalty area, we couldn’t make any more than a corner kick out of them. Then in the 32nd minute Alkmaar again attacked on the left. The cross was passed to Iranian player Jahanbakhsh on the right. He shot, it was too high.

It seemed that the referee didn’t like Partizan much either. There were cases - not just one or two - when a clear foul was committed against our player, but he always waved "go ahead".

In the 35th minute Brašanac got the ball in the middle. He ran up, passed to the right to Andrija Živković. Žile brought it back almost from the baseline, then crossed it to Aboubakar in the middle, but the chance was missed out.
In the 41st minute Subić ran up on the left side. He crossed it to the middle, the ball dropped to Babović. Babović shot from the goalmouth, but it was too wide. A minute later Ninković shot from the left, it was also too wide.

Partizan sped up for the second part of the first half. We attacked, we had attempts, and Babović was kicked to the ground more often at this very match than in the entire season.

Grave Diggers

(photos: Twitter)

A quick look in the half time to the standing of the other match: damn it, Germans equalized... It’s not good for us. Not at all. We MUST win, come on!...
The first half was broadcasted by RTS 2, then they probably thought that the nerves of Partizan fans are not broken enough, so they made some extra excitements. The second half was broadcasted by RTS 1, the problem was that at this side of the globe there’s no normal (ie. working) RTS 1-stream. All of them are blocked. Desperate search for ANY working link, finally a Croatian one popped up, but those people practically broadcasted the entire EL-round showing only pieces from all matches. Desperate search continued, finally an English stream was found, but the commentator was not much talkative there. Never mind. It will be fine.

At the beginning of the second half, in the 48th minute Alkmaar took the lead. Brežančić crossed from the left side, dos Santos got it in the middle and shot between two Partizan-defenders, right into the net. 1:0

No. Just... no. It’s death. It’s impossible. It can’t be.

Partizan collapsed from this goal. The speed of the previous half’s last minutes was gone, we were again that slow, cautious, backward-passing team as we were in the beginning. The Dutch team heartened up, they again possessed the ball more and attacked, too. Finally, in the 55th minute, we could have an attempt. After a corner-kick Ćirković headed the ball to the goal, the goalkeeper had a great save.
In the 62nd minute we lost the ball, Janssen got it. He ran up all alone, shot, Kljajić saved. Two minutes later a distant Dutch shot came from the middle, Kljajić was at his place.
In the 65th minute Subić got the ball from the left. He passed it ahead to Ninković. Ninković crossed it to Aboubakar in the middle, and Aboubakar headed it right into the net, pefrectly. GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAL, yesssss, that’s it, we equalized! 1:1!

(photo: partizan.rs)

A quick look at the other match. Goddamn it, the Germans are leading to 2:1... Come on, boys, come on, push it, push it hard, as hard as you can!...

In the 68th minute a Dutch attack came from the right, but Kljajić rolled down the shutters. A minute later Henrikssen had an attempt from the middle, the Bulgarian Sergio Ramos, aka Bandalovski

Bojinov said it once, and who am I to disagree with him?...

touched it, the attempt ended in a corner kick. The kick was headed downfield by Ćirković.
In the 70th minute, after another Alkmaar-corner kick we started a counter-attack. Aboubakar possessed the ball, he passed it to Ninković. Ninković ran up and with a delicate movement he passed the ball above the goalkeeper, towards the goal line... and it was too wide.

(photo: partizan.rs)

From this the Dutch team immediately ran up for a counter-attack. Janssen had almost the very same scene with Kljajić as Ninković with Coutinho, just Ćirković threw himself into the way (then stayed on the ground).
In the 76th minute we again started a counter-attack after an Alkmaar-corner kick, but we lost the ball. The Dutch team attacked back, arriving on the right, but Kljajić inactivated the shot.
Dutch players turned into more and more rough, the referee either whistled it off, or not. Time passed... We were in the 83rd minute, Ortiz had a distant shot, it was too wide.
In the 86th minute Alkmaar got another corner kick. Kljajić punched it out, but Luckassen headed it back to the penalty area, making a goalmouth scramble. The ball dropped again to Luckassen, the Dutch player was on a huge offside, but no flag up. Luckassen shot, it was too wide. A minute later we attacked, Aboubakar passed the ball to Andrija Živković. Živković passed it ahead to Vulićević, he crossed from the right, the goalkeeper caught the ball.

A quick look at the "neighbourhood": Bilbao took back the lead!!! If we can keep this draw, we can make it!!!

And then came the 89th minute.
Aboubakar got a cross on the left side. He ran up to the Dutch penalty area and crossed to Andrija Živković in the middle. Živković had nothing else to do than shooting it into the net.
He did it.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL, a fantastic GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!!!
1:2!!!!
We’re leading!!!

Živković scores...

...and celebrates

(photos: partizan.rs)

Three miuntes of extra time were left.
Life’s longest three minutes.
But then they ended. Final whistle. Time to celebrate.

(photos: partizan.rs)

(photo: uefa.com)

For Average Fan there was still a short, but nerve-racking part left, because the Augsburg - Athletic Bilbao game hadn’t ended at this point. Bilbao was leading to 2:3, may the Heavenly Forces give us to stay like this for the end.
It did.
Celebration time.
If there’s any video, I’ll update the post.

Facts:

Venue: AFAS AZ Stadium, Alkmaar, The Netherlands
Number of spectators: 15 000
Referee: Harald Lechner (assistants: Andreas Staudinger, Andreas Heidenreich - 4th assistant: Maximilian Kolbitsch - goal line assistants: Alexander Harkam, Julian Weinberger) - AUT

AZ Alkmaar: Coutinho - Johansson, Gouweleeuw, Luckassen, Brežančić - van Overeem (Tanković, 75.), Ortiz (Hupperts, 88.), dos Santos - Henriksen - Janssen, Jahanbakhsh (Muhren, 80.)
Head coach: John van den Brom

FK Partizan: Kljajić - Vulićević, Bandalovski, Ćirković, Subić - Jevtović, Babović (S. Ilić, 75.) - A. Živković (Grbić, 90+2.), Brašanac, Ninković (Bojinov, 84.) - Aboubakar
Head coach: Ljubinko Drulović

Goal scorers: dos Santos (48.), Aboubakar (65.), A. Živković (89.)
Yellow card: Bandalovski (26.), Luckassen (45.), A. Živković (90.)

Current standing of Group L:
1. Athletic Bilbao 12 points
2. Partizan 9 points
3. Augsburg 6 points
4. AZ Alkmaar 3 points

Athletic Bilbao - FK Partizan 5:1 (UEFA Europa League)

I start with a short intro, because there has been a turmoil around the football team since the beginning of the week. It accumulated for this half of the week and it definitely had an impact on this brutal meltdown in Bilbao.
It started with Milorad Vučelić heavily criticizing the football players in public for the weak performance. He said, the football players are like a bunch of autists, adding that they are to blame for everything. (You get it, he is the perfect politician, washing his hands, getting rid of responsibility - well, he does have routine.) A day later Ivica Iliev answered Vučelić (in public, of course) with a diplomatic touché, saying that critics are needed, but not in the style of an enraged elephant dashing into a china shop, especially not in the press.
After all these Andrija Živković’s father got fed up (what can I say, it’s totally understandable) and turned the table on Partizan’s management, saying that the current leadership is worse than the Đurić-era

isn’t he right?

and his son will not travel to Bilbao with the team. Živković jr. indeed wasn’t included in that group of players that went to Basque Country, what is more, if rumours are true, meanwhile he signed a five-year contract with Portuguese team Benfica, that is supposed to take effect in January 2016. (Benfica has dismissed these rumours though.)
The team didn’t include Brašanac (injured), Saša Ilić and Leković either.
There was full house in San Mamés stadium, with a very small group of Grave Diggers as well.

The truth is that after the starting whistle Partizan got stuck in their half, or rather, they seemed as if they don't want to get out of there. We got to Bilbao's penalty area some time in the 9th minute. We even got a corner kick, but defenders headed it out.
And... and we stayed on our half.
And we kept on passing the ball backwards.
We didn’t attack. We didn’t tear down the opponent like a roaring lion. As if we just wanted to somehow avoid any kind of confrontation.
We get the punishment for our non-attacking attitude. The Basque team took the lead in the 16th minute. Williams ran up in the middle, passing to Aduriz. Aduriz was wrestling with Subić, Partizan’s defender slid, Aduriz was all alone. He passed to Williams arriving out of the blue. Williams thanked and with a wide grin he kicked the ball into our net. 1:0
We didn’t have to wait too long for the equalizing goal. Right after the kickoff Grbić ran up on the right side and  passed to Aboubakar in the middle. The assistant didn’t wave offside, Aboubakar made a great solo, shot and scored. 1:1

Bilbao took back the lead in the 18th minute.
They attacked on the right side. The ball was sent to the middle, where Jevtović (if I could see it well...) kicked it out of the penalty area, right in front of a Basque player. He kicked it back to his tieammate inside the penalty area. This one dribbled a bit, then kicked the ball to Williams, who again appeared out of nowhere and who kicked the ball to the net, scoring his second goal. 2:1
In the 24th minute Williams again found himself all alone inside our penalty area

this kid was very dangerous, he was like quicksilver, very fast, always finding the ball and especially appearing out of nowhere

arriving from the left side, very fast and invisible. He shot, thankfully it was too high. In the meantime Balažic fell on the ground and he was taken off on a litter. He had so heavy pains that he couldn’t eve stand on his feet.

His ligament got most probably torn. It was just a bad movement while falling to the ground. There’s no info yet about how long his recovery will be.

In the 28th minute we made a counter-attack after a Bilbao-corner. Stevanović ran up on the left and passed to Aboubakar in the middle. Bilbao’s goalkeeper ran out of the goalmouth and kicked the ball back to our half before the Cameroonian player could have reached it.
Three minutes later Stevanović was wrestling for the ball with a player of the home team. Finally Subić got the ball and made an excellent pass to the middle, but Babović, who was arriving there, just missed it.
In the 36th minute Fabricio’s free kick flew out of the field, probably also of the stadium.
In the 39th minute Aduriz attacked all of a sudden. He was taken into a "sandwich" by two Partizan-defenders, then the Basque player fell to the ground, right inside our penalty area. The goalkeeper didn’t appreciate the trick, the home team got only a free kick from 17 metres instead of a penalty. Benat stood behind the ball and with a very cheeky movement he shot the ball in a way that it went almost round the wall, passed by the shocked Kljajić and fell into our net. 3:1
...and they attacked again right after the kickoff, on the right. The ball was passed to the middle, Kljajić had a great save.
The last action happened in the 45+1st minute, again Williams from the right side, passing the ball to the middle, someone headed it to the goal line, Kljajić saved.
In the second half we continued where we finished in the first half. We passed the ball backwards, our attacks - if there were any... - were blocked, or we simply lost the ball. That was what happened in the 51st minute, but then it was Fabricio who lost the ball and it all ended up in a dangerous goal attempt by Bilbao. For our great luck Williams was on offside, the referee whistled it off.
In the 53rd minute Bilbao got a free kick after Williams fell on the ground after clashing with Fabricio (the slow motion replay clearly showed that nothing happened, Williams was acting, but the referee believed him). They were 18 metres from our goal line. Benat kicked, Vulićević blocked it and we could start a counter-attack. Even though Bilbao’s defenders inactivated our attempt, it still almost ended with an own goal. Their defender wanted to pass the ball back to the goalkeeper, but Herrerin was out of the goalmouth, even of the penalty area and he had to do a very heavy sprint to save the ball from rolling through the goal line. (He did, approx. 5 cm before the goal line.)
In the 55th minute Bilbao got another free kick, 25 metres from the goal line, on the right. Benat kicked, Williams got it, even shot from a sharp angle, missing it barely.
Then nothing happened. Bilbao’s players were playing with the ball, we were watching them. We didn’t interfere in their play. Sometimes, very rarely we could touch the ball, but even then we just tried to kick it as far from our goal line as possible. No attack, no ideas, nothing. In the 69th minute Grbić finally got the ball and ran up on the right side. He wanted to pass it to Šaponjić, but Herrerin was faster.
Then in the 71st minute Bilbao got a free kick, 30 metres from our goal line, on the right. Aduriz stood behind the ball, he shot, right into the net. 4:1
From then on Bilbao played a training match with us. That’s the truth. The two teams were two totally different worlds. What is more, in the 81st minute Aduriz got a long pass from the half line, ran up, clashed with Kljajić (Partizan’s goalkeeper stayed on the ground), then passed to Elustondo, who had nothing else to do but walk in to the empty net with the ball. 5:1 Okay, everyone, let’s go home now.
Nothing ever happened in the rest of the game that is worth to mention.

No video highlights yet, because UEFA consists of elbow-sleeved officials who still haven’t uploaded any videos to Youtube about this round.

Facts:

Venue: San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao, Spain

Number of spectators: 40 000

Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (assistants: Alexandros Grevenis, Chrysoula Kourompylia - 4th assistant: Christos Baltas - goal line assistants: Charalambos Kalogeropoulos, Andreas Pappas) - GRE

Athletic Bilbao: Herrerin - Boveda, Etxeita, Laporte, Balenziaga - Benat (Elustondo, 73.), San José - Williams (de Marcos, 63.), García (Eraso, 66.), Susaeta - Aduriz

Head coach: Ernesto Valverde

FK Partizan: Kljajić - Vulićević, Balažic (Ćirković, 26.), Fabricio, Subić - Jevtović - Aboubakar (Šaponjić, 46.), Babović, Lukić, Stevanović (Ninković, 73.) - Grbić

Head coach: Ljubinko Drulović

Goal scorers: Williams (15.), Aboubakar (17.), Williams (18.), Benat (39.), Aduriz (71.), Elustondo (81.)

Yellow card: Jevtović (49.), Fabricio (53.), Vulićević (55.)

Current standing of Group L:

Athletic Bilbao 9 points

Augsburg 6 points

Partizan 6 points

AZ Alkmaar 3 points

(photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)