Partizan and CSKA Moscow will play a friendly game on Saturday (6pm CET kick-off) at Partizan ground. Pre-match press-conference was attended by Partizan boss Srdjan Blagojevic and former Partizan now CSKA manager Marko Nikolic.
Marko Nikolic won league title with Partizan back in 2017.
“I feel like I never left” – Nikolic said, “Unfortunately, although I was looking forward to this event we jointly worked on, we were all saddened by the passing of two Partizan greats, my friends..They both worked with me, Radisa Ilic in my first and Andrija Delibasic in my second spell with the club. I find this so hard and I would like to send my condolences to the both families. They can expect all the support they can get from Partizan and from me”.
“I`m thrilled we managed to organize this and I`d like to thank people from both clubs for supporting this idea. This fraternity is growing as well as the relations between the clubs and fans overall. I`m proud to be CSKA coach now that this is happening. Back in 2017, when we won Partizan`s last double, we organized similar event, a friendly against PAOK brothers. We had 15 to 20 thousand attendance back then and fans continued to attend Partizan matches in great numbers after that game. I hope for more of the same now. We have over thousand CSKA fans arriving to Belgrade and I expect one fine game over some nice weather conditions.
We are here without 12 international as it`s international break but other players can battle for their spot for the rest of the season. Both Partizan and CSKA have no European matches to play so this is kind of a European encounter, good test for both teams. I`d like to invite both CSKA and Partizan fans to attend tomorrow`s game while tonight we will be at the basketball arena supporting BC Partizan in one the crucial games of the seasons. I hope we will have more of that arena atmosphere tomorrow at football ground”, said Marko Nikolic.
Partizan boss Srdjan Blagojevic also addressed media reps.
“I`m extremely pleased to be part of such game and I would like to welcome our friends and brothers from Moscow, especially my colleague Marko. I think they all deserve to enjoy in spectacle tomorrow, created by Partizan and CSKA fans from Moscow as well as by many Russian ex-pats who live here at the moment, especially after last June`s hospitality our players and club enjoyed in Moscow”, said Srdjan Blagojevic.
