Partisan Belgrade have an uphill task, as Tottenham Hotspur come to town in their opening Group C fixture in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Where to Watch Live
Partizan vs. Tottenham is set for a 6 pm BST (10.30 pm IST,) start with live coverage on Ten Sports in India. The match can also be watched via live streaming online in India HERE. Catch the action in the UK on ITV4, with the option to live stream the match online HERE.
Viewers in the US can watch the Champions League game on Fox Sports 2Go and WATCH ESPN, with an option to live stream HERE. Audience in the Middle East and North Africa can catch the action via live streaming HERE, while South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa viewers can do the same HERE.
The last time Partizan won a match against an English side was around 15 years ago, in the 1998-99 season, when they beat Newcastle United 1-0. Those days however, are long gone, and they seem to be facing a strong Tottenham side, buoyed by their tactically-shrewd manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Spurs, on the other hand have an impressive record, especially in the group stages of the Europa League. They have lost only one of their last eight away fixtures in Europe, and will be looking for business as usual against Partizan.
The Serbian outfit, however, cannot be counted out of the equation just yet. Partisan are coming into the match with tremendous domestic form behind them, as they have won all five of their games in the Serbian Super Liga.
However, Partizan will be missing forward Petar Skuletic, who is suspended for the game. They also have a few other key players sitting injured on the sidelines. Hence, they would be looking to some of their younger players to do the task for them against the English outfit.
"This will be a good opportunity for the younger players to make their names in an international competition," said Partizan head coach Markos Nikolic to UEFA.com. "We do not have any clear aims or promises to make, but without doubt we will try to win every match.
"This is an important match for us, the first one in the group and against tough opponents," said teenaged midfielder Danilo Pantić. "No pressure has been put on us and that is how we are going to play. I can promise that everyone will give their all."
Even Spurs will be missing a number of key players, who have stayed back in England for this fixture. Manager Mauricio Pochettino announced that Danny Rose, Nacer Chadli, Mousa Dembele, Younes Kaboul and Emmanuel Adebayor have all been left behind for "different reasons".
Spurs have been doing well in the Premier League, and have picked up seven points from four matches. They will have some inside information on the Serbian team as well from Swiss-born U-19 Serbian International Milos Veljkovic.
However, Spurs coach Pochettino seems to be pulling all the strings available to him to get as much information on Partizan as possible. He even got his former Espanyol teammate and former Partizan player (1991-94) Branko Brnovic to tell him all about the club from Belgrade.
"I have a lot of information because Branko Brnovic was my teammate at Espanyol," said Spurs coach Pochettino. "He was a player here for Partizan and now he is coaching Montenegro. I know the history of Partizan and we expect a big crowd and strong support for them."
