UEFA Champions League Qualification Play-off: Match Review Partizan Belgrade versus Anderlecht
Two relative underdogs of Europe’s most famous club cup competition, Partizan and Anderlecht took on each other in the first leg of their qualification play-off tie in Serbia. Partizan hosted the first leg of their play-off against the Belgian club side, Anderlecht.
Partizan approached the match in attacking fashion as they used the traditional 4-4-2 formation while their opponents from Belgium, Anderlecht deployed a balanced 3-5-2 formation. Radisa Ilić started in the goal for the hosts and in front of the Serbian national, Ivan Stevanović, Marko Jovanović, Aleksandar Lazevski and Mladen Krstajić made up the Belgrade defense. In midfield, Nemaja Tomic, Radosav Petrovic, Almami Moriera and Saša Ilić lined up for the Serbian club.
Cleo and Ivica were trusted with the attacking duties as both the strikers played in offensive positions up the field for Partizan Belgrade. On the other hand, Anderlecht had Silvio Proto in between the goal posts. Ondrej Mazuch, Olivier Deschacht and Rohland Juhasz played as the three old fashioned centre backs. Anderlecht packed their midfield with two defensive midfielders in the shape of Jan p***k from the Czech Republic and Cheikhou Kouyaté from Senegal. p***k and Cheikhou were complimented by Moubarak Boussoufa, Jan Lecjaks and Guillaume Gillet in offensive midfield positions.
Anderlecht’s two strikers on the right were Suarez and Lukaku. The Partizan Stadium in Serbia was the venue for the match as Anderlecht were led into the match by their coach Aleksandar Stanojević, while their opponents Partizan, were guided by their manager Ariël Jacobs. The referee for the match was Claus Bo Jensen from Denmark and his linesmen were Henrik Sonderby and Andres Norrestrand.
As usually is the case in such matches both the teams started the match in nervous fashion and all throughout the first half, the quality of football was lacking. Partizan put on a dominating show towards the start as the home crowd urged them on towards the Anderlecht goal. They also had some very good chances to take the lead in the first half of the match but failed to do so on numerous occasions. Partizan’s crucial miss hits in front of Anderlecht’s goal made one wonder as to, if the Serbians will regret their lack of proficiency in attack.
The first half of the match ended in disappointment for both the sides but Anderlecht looked happier of the two teams as the score was at nil all. At the start of the second half, both the sides sprung into action and the tempo of the match seemed far better than before. Soon around the 54th minute mark, Anderlecht’s midfielder Guillaume Gillet met Jan Lecjak’s cross to give the Belgian football club a crucial away goal. In doing so, Anderlecht took the lead but their defense immediately lost focus as within the next three minutes, Partizan got their important equalizer through Cleo, who latched onto Saša Ilić’s finely timed pass. With the score level again, Partizan seemed to have more fight in them than their opponents and this showed in the 65th minute of the match as Anderlecht conceded a weak own goal due to Jan Lecjaks’s mistake.
However, the visitors came back into the match for the second time in the night as their centre back Roland Juhasz equalized in the 67th minute of the second half. The first two bookings of the match went to Anderlecht’s players, namely Guillaume Gillet and Cheikhou Kouyaté in the 73rd and the 78th minute respectively.
The final score at the end of the match was two all, as the tie is delicately balanced for the second leg of the qualification play-off in Belgium at Anderlecht’s home stadium. The two away goals that the Belgian’s got in Partizan will be crucial as these goals give them an advantage while playing at home due to UEFA’s away goals rule in the UEFA Champions League knockout scenarios.
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