FK Partizan - Asteras Tripolis 0:0 (UEFA Europa League)

The match started with a minute of silence for the memory of Blagoje Paunović, who passed the day before the match.

Then the guests immediately attacked Partizan’s goal. Thankfully they missed, it was even offside. The answer came with Ninković, he had a distant shot, the goalkeeper saved it to corner. The kick was cleared by defenders, then Ninković got the ball again and passed it to Drinčić. Drinčić shot, the goalkeeper caught the ball.
In the 8th minute Ninković was again in the centre of attention. He ran up, had a great solo, dribbled himself through the defenders and shot, the goalkeeper saved.
After the first 10 minutes the match’s pace slowed down. The next chance came in the 17th minute. Škuletić sent the ball to Marković with a great "Oxford" movement. The midfielder shot, the goalkeeper saved. Asteras had one or two weak tries in the meantime, as for us, we got a corner in the 23rd minute. Stanković headed the ball towards the net, the goalkeeper caught it. (Theodoropoulos had a busy day in the office...) 3 minutes later Ninković gave a pass to Grbić. He kicked the ball to Volkov, the defender shot, Theodoropoulos saved.
Asteras had a distant shot in the 30th minute, Gianniotas did it from 18 metres. Lukač had a great save. Four minutes later we got a free kick about 20 metres from the goal line. Drinčić stood behind the ball, shot, the goalkeeper caught it.

Here came a period when fans singing and holding banners were much interesting and entertaining than the match itself...

Then in the 42nd minute Živković got the ball from Ninković and ran up. He got a defender on his back inside the penalty area and the two started to wrestle. Partizan’s midfielder fell on the ground and stayed there with a painful face. RTS replayed it in slow motion a few times from different angles. It was clear Asteras’s defender did not touch the ball while pushing Živković down. Yet the Polish referee was adamant and waved for goal kick, despite Volkov’s angry gesticulations.

Asteras had a try left for the last minute of the first half, but the ball flew out of the field above the crossbar.
The second half started with the Chance of the Day (or rather The Missed Chance of the Day...) Škuletić got the ball from the right side and shot. The goalkeeper saved, the ball dropped in front of Živković. The midfielder was tackled by a defenders, after this he kicked the ball precisely to Ninković. Ninković shot - and the ball hit the goalpost. Two minutes later he tried again, now hitting the goalkeeper.

In the 53rd minute we got a free kick. Asteras’s goalkeeper saved to corner, while players were wrestling with each other. Ninković fell on the ground, then Volkov, too, finally the referee showed the yellow card to Volkov. (Why?...)
There was silence until the 68th minute, finally Škuletić ran up, dribbling himself through Asteras-players on the left side and shot. It was too high, the ball left the field above the crossbar.

A minute later he got a pass from Volkov. Škuletić jumped up to head the ball into the net, but he missed the ball with  just one step. In the 71st minute he shot again, now from the right side, the ball rolled out of the playing ground near the left goalpost. Škuletić kicked again the ball to the goal in the 71st minute, this time from the right side, the ball rolled out of the playing field near the left goalpost.
In the 74th minute Grbić was substituted by Saša Ilić. The audience was cheering loud and ecstatic chanting "Jedan je Ilić kapiten".

A minute later Asteras got into a chance-alike situation, first time after long minutes. The ball got stuck on Partizan defenders, finally Lukač saved.
In the 76th minute Škuletić got a marvellous pass from Ninković - and shot way above the crossbar.

Two minutes later opponent player Fernández kicked it to our goal, but it was both weak and way too wide. It did not cause any headache for Lukač. In the 84th minute we got a free kick above 25-30 metres from the goal line. The shot hit the wall, there was an upheaval then, but we still possessed the ball. Finally Luka headed the ball to the goal, but missed.
In the 90th minute Lukač had an amazing save. He was all alone against about 3 opponent attackers passing the ball to each other, while our defenders were watching amused.

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadium
Number of spectators: 5000
Referee: Pawel Gil (assistants: Piotr Sadczuk, Marcin Borkowski - 4th assistant: Konrad Sapela - goal line assistants: Bartosz Frankowski, Krzysztof Jakubik) - POL

FK Partizan: Lukač - B. Ilić, Petrović, Stanković, Volkov - Grbić (S. Ilić, 74.), Drinčić, Marković, Živković - Ninković (Luka, 81.) - Škuletić (Kojić, 89.)
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Asteras Tripolis: Theodoropoulos - Panteliadis, Sankaré, Lluy - Tsokanis, Zisopoulos, Tie Bi (Mazza, 75.), Munafo - Bakasetas (Badibanga, 72.), Barrales, Gianniotas (Fernández, 63.)
Head coach: Staikos Vergetis

Yellow card: Bakasetas (22.), Tie Bi (33.), Drinčić (46.), B. Ilić (54.), Volkov (59.), Tsokanis (82.), Luka (90+2.)

(photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

Football-related news is that Marko Nikolić was punished by FSS after the scandal at the match against Novi Pazar. (The story still keeps itself that Partizan’s trainer told referee Glođović what to do, how and with whom in a not really literary style after the referee was unwilling to pause the match when home fans threw a firecracker to Nikolić’s head.) FSS said Nikolić is banned "until further notice". Hereby I send my most sincere congratulations to everyone at the association, as Partizan will not play any official match until the middle of next February. I hope those smart people there will receive a Nobel Prize soon.

It very much seems so this was Volkov's last match wearing Partizan's jersey :( The defender plans to transfer to another club during this winter. In an interview he said: his contract will expire next summer. If he can find a new team now, then Partizan can still earn from his transfer.
Now raise yourself and salute for him.

Asteras Tripolis - FK Partizan 2:0 (UEFA Europa League group stage)

And now the person(s) who made the team and the fans believe we would just simply step over the Greeks, should stand up right now and make a step forward.
Sure, we stepped over the Greeks so much that we are beaten with 2 goals, providing the worst game of the century.

All seemed to be fine in the beginning. What is more, in the southern tribune a group of Grave Diggers made a great atmosphere, singing and chanting louder than local fans.

Partizan tried the opponent in the very first minute. Vulićević’s shot rolled out of the field through the line, not much far from the goalpost. Then Živković passed the ball into the opponent’s penalty area from a free kick, the Slovakian goalkeeper had to push himself pretty much to save it.
Asteras got to Partizan’s penalty area only in the 6th minute, until then the guests massively ruled the game. The Greek team got a free kick, just a few steps from the penalty area line. The shot was dangerous, Lukač had a great save. A minute later the world watched Partizan’s goalkeeper again, when a striker headed the ball to the goal, but he saved it again.
Partizan kept the ball, mostly by defenders passing it to each other on their own half. Meanwhile Asteras built up a bunker that could hardly be broken through by strikers. Yet they also couldn’t build up a mentionable attack. In the 15th minute Branko Ilić got a yellow card, though the Dutch referee seemingly enjoyed showing it to Partizan-players. The yellow card was followed by a free kick, Parra headed it just barely near the goalpost.
In the 17th minute Ćirković blocked a shot and Partizan immediately started a counter-attack. Saša Ilić passed it to Grbić, the midfielder ran up to the opponent’s goal line. The goalkeeper saved it by punching the ball out through the sideline. Then Vulićević passed the ball right in front of the goal line, but Kosicky deactivated that, too.

Match action: Živković wrestling with Italian player Lluy

Then came the 22nd minute and the nightmare.
Asteras slowly but surely came up on Partizan’s half. They kept on passing the ball among each other here and there, finally Usero grabbed an unbelievably weak and insignificant pass and shot it from near the penalty point. Lukač saved (with a great movement), but the ball dropped back in front of the Spaniard, who didn’t miss it this time. He kicked it into the net near Lukač. 1:0
I’d bet on anything I saw a redemption-looking foul by an Asteras-player in the 24th minute. (No yellow card was shown...) Free kick was by Živković, but Greeks got the ball and made an immediate counter-attack. Their striker was rushing up to Lukač’s home followed by 1 (one) Partizan-defender... and Lukač made the save of the year. With his leg.

Match action: Lazović vs. Sankaré from Senegal

Here started that unpleasant pressure that slowly turned into horror by Asteras. They made extremely fast counter-attacks, while Partizan needed quite a time to build up an attack, but all of them were blocked by Greek defenders.

Also, I want to suggest all Latin-American players to get an Oscar in "drama" category.
Also, whenever a Partizan-player fell on the ground, the referee’s reaction was usually a fatherly "there, there" to the fouling opponent, but whenever a Partizan-player just made a nasty look on any Greek player, the home team immediately got a free kick.

In the 38th minute Pantić ran up and passed the ball to Vulićević. He shot the ball from a sharp angle, but the goalkeeper saved it. In the 40th minute Volkov was tackled, Greeks attacked, but Lukač blocked their try again.

One of Lukač’s moments

The last action of the first half happened in the last minute of the extra time. It was again Vulićević running up and passing the ball to the goal line, but Kosicky again saved.

At the very beginning of the second half, just after the starting whistle Asteras immediately attacked Partizan’s home. I hope Lukač’s hands will be engilt and his gloves get to the museum - he made a great save again.
Then again, just two minutes later.
In the 49th minute he didn’t, but only because Parra’s shot flew out of the field above the goalpost.
In the 50th minute Lazović got a yellow card, just because he was standing in the way of a goal-kick and the ball hit him.
Then there was again a disturbance in the Force.
Greeks were coming up on the right side. Mazza kept on tackling in front of Partizan’s penalty area then passed it. Defenders blocked his shot, but the ball was kept by Asteras, dropping here and there, defenders were just watching it. Then someone made a very weak shot and it seemed that the ball would again roll out of the field near the left goalpost, but Parra suddenly showed up and kicked the ball into the net. 2:0
In the 56th minute Partizan got a free kick, Stanković wanted to move Lazović’s shot into the net, but Sankaré had a different opinion. (The Senegalese defender wasn't really friendly towards Partizan-players, and to all these it was clear he is the beginning and the end of the defense line.)

One of Stanković’s moments

In the 61st minute Asteras got a free kick. Before that nothing much happened except for Vulićević’s yellow card. Partizan kept on trying but practically all their tries remained ineffective. Meanwhile Greeks attacked very fast, guest defenders were behind them with several steps.
So, Asteras got a free kick, the ball was rolling through the penalty area, nobody touched it. Well, Lukač did, thankfully, and saved.
In the 62nd minute Fofana (who joined as substitute in the 46th minute) missed a chance.

Grbić against defenders

The upcoming few minutes brought numerous tryings by Partizan, but all actions were blocked by defenders. We could not control the game, Greeks did. Then in the 69th minute it was almost 3:0... Someone headed the ball into the net, our great luck was that the assistant referee was waving for offside before the goal.

Ninković joined in the 63rd minute, but even he couldn’t give too much to the result

The next minutes brought again quite a few Asteras-chances. Partizan-defenders were again behind the strikers, even Lukač was helped out sometimes by the Heavenly Forces.
In the 77th minute Kojić joined the game substituting Saša Ilić, being finally recovered from his injury.
The game ran still in the midfield. Asteras immediately attacked whenever they could grab the ball. Their defense line was especially strong, Partizan was blocked by them continuously.

Match action: Lazar Ćirković

This was the point when Average Fan wished the game would end as soon as possible to just get over it, also the singing, chanting and cheering of Grave Diggers who travelled to Greece to support the team was much more delightful than the match itself.

Giga respect to you, guys.

In the 87th minute Partizan could get to Asteras’s goal line, but the chance was missed. The audience shouted "ollé" whenever the home team touched the ball.
The last chance came again in the minutes of extra time, Lazović's free kick was saved by the Slovakian goalkeeper.

Highlights:

Facts:

Location: Teodoras Kolokotronis Stadium, Tripoli
Number of spectators: 5000
Referee: Danny Makkelie (assistants: Patrick Langkamp, Mario Diks - substitute referee: Bas van Dongen - additional assistants: Kevin Blom, Kamphuis Jochem) - NED

Asteras Tripolis: Kosicky - Lluy, Goian, Sankaré, Panteliadis - Usero, Zisopulos, Rolle (Munafo, 90.) - Mazza, Parra (Barrales, 59.), Giannotas (Kitoko, 73.)
Head coach: Staikos Vergetis

FK Partizan: Lukač - Vulićević, Ćirković, Stanković, Volkov - B. Ilić, S. Ilić (Kojić, 77.) - A. Živković (Fofana, 46.), Pantić, Grbić (Ninković, 63.) - Lazović
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Goal scoarers: Usero (22.), Parra (52.)
Yellow card: B. Ilić (15.), Lazović (50.), Vulićević (61.), Ninković (89.), Goian (90.), Barrales (90+3.)

And now let me pay respect to PAOK-fans with a minute-long silent standing in attention for showing comradeship and stealing a flag from an Asteras fan group.

(photo: Facebook)

Respect!

(other photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

Photos: the team arrived in Tripoli and had their first training there

Spirits high, not just literally (among the clouds, on the plane): Kojić and Luka

Courtesy of Air Serbia

Kojić sharing some funny story while waiting for their packs at the airport

Surprise: a fan was waiting for them

Feeling a bit worn-out

Journalists asking Marko Nikolić and Momčilo Vukotić

Working hard...

...for goalkeepers, too

Kojić and Volkov

Branko Ilić was present even at the press conference

Photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan

Coming up: Asteras Tripolis - FK Partizan UEFA Europa League group stage tomorrow

Tomorrow Partizan play their first away match at the Europa League group stages. The team has already left for Tripoli.

(photos: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

Vulićević is optimistic.
- We played well against Tottenham, why not repeating it in Tripoli? This is the very time and place we can hope for gaining 3 points. Our goal is to be present at the European stage even in the spring.
- We had an unexpected break before travelling to Greece - said Marko Nikolić, referring to the cancelled SuperLiga-match. - Our opponent is in great shape, they base their tactics on their Argentinian players, who have a very aggressive playing style.
The trainer talked about Nikola Drinčić who couldn’t join the team.
- Drinčić had similar injury to Neymar at the World Cup, just his goes with a mild intensity. On Monday he already joined our training session, but he had to work separate from the others. Volkov had his first training on Wednesday, Branko Ilić had some virus infection, but he is doing better now - Nikolić listed those who might miss out tomorrow’s battle.
Besides them Darko Brašanac, Miloš Ostojić and Petar Škuletić will be absent. First two are injured, while Škuletić is still suspended.
The head coach was asked about Nikola Vujadinović as well, who has been training at ul. Humska for a while.
- Indeed he has been visiting our trainings - he said. - We have a very good relationship and if we could cooperate on the long term, I’d be very happy.
The list of players travelling to Tripoli:
Goalkeepers: Lukač, Ž. Živković, Kljajić
Defenders: Vulićević, Volkov, N. Petrović, Stanković, Ćirković, B. Ilić
Midfielders: S. Ilić, Grbić, A. Živković, Pantić, Ninković, Marković, Luka, Marinković
Strikers: Lazović, Fofana, Kojić

Match starts tomorrow at 21:05, RTS 1 will broadcast it live.