Partizan is home to Lugano on Thursday (8pm CET kick-off) as part of UEFA Europa League round 3 qualifying fixtures, first leg. Lugano also dropped out of UCL qualifiers as they were defeated by Fenerbahce 6-4 on agg.
TEAM NEWS
Marko Zivkovic (knee surgery) remains the only long-term absentee. Mario Jurcevic nursed his minor injury sustained in a second-leg against Dynamo Kyiv. Aleksandar Scekic (illness) is a doubt.
Partizan boss Aleksandar Stanojevic and midfielder Ghayas Zahid attended pre-match presser.
Aleksandar Stanojevic:
-We are entering new European tie with desire to try and win ourselves group stage. We know we were poor in the previous European outing and now we have a chance to prove ourselves. It`s going to be tough tomorrow against the opponents who control the ball with lots of possession involved. Therefore, we need to be patient and to find the ways to solve those things. I hope for the best.
Lugano is a compact team, extremely mobile and they attack in various ways. It will be a different game compared to Dynamo Kyiv as I think we`ll have more space to play and to threaten Lugano. But we are aware of their qualities, as they were on show against Fenerbahce. If you want to play European competition, you have to be on that level and we`ll try to seize on their flaws. Lugano is in a good form; their squad has been together for some time as well as their coach so we`ll try to solve that puzzle.
We showed we advanced in certain areas but it was in domestic league with different line-ups. We`ll see who we will start tomorrow. We also learned our lessons from previous European outing but we`ll have to change some things and give opportunity to certain players. We definitely need a good European result to gain confidence, domestic league is not enough.
This team had good players but we are not a good team. It`s on me to try and make them a good team and then the individual players can stand out. We have to do it very soon as there`s no time, it`s the current reality of my job.
We need few more signings. Grimaldo just arrived but he needs his time to adapt and it`s just a matter of days when we will be able to use him to the full.
Ghayas Zahid:
-Tough game and a good one. It`s a game we would have to give everything. We want to be in this competition and I think team is looking forward to it. We are ready to give everything to make sure we pass to the next round.
Every game has the same importance because we want to achieve lot of things in the league and in the Europe also. In the league we have started good and the first round in Europe was not how we wanted it to be. We are working very hard to get on the level we want to be in Europe.
I understand the expectations of the fans and I want to be on the same or better level than last year and I`m working hard to get on the same level and try to give my best for this team. Hopefully I will find my form very soon and be able to play on the same level the fans expect from me and I also expect from myself.
