Tottenham v Partizan background
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Article summary
Tottenham Hotspur FC are within a win of the UEFA Europa League round of 32 as FK Partizan return to London looking to stifle the Premier League side for a second time.
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Another win will be enough to take Tottenham Hotspur FC through to the UEFA Europa League round of 32, while the Group C trail has already gone cold for FK Partizan.
Form guide
• Spurs have won both of their previous home games against Serbian sides by two-goal margins.
• Partizan held Spurs to a 0-0 draw on matchday one – picking up their only Group C point to date. Their two previous trips to London – in 1984 and 2010 – both ended in defeat.
• Spurs are unbeaten in 17 UEFA Europa League group stage matches (W11 D6) since a 2-1 home loss to PAOK FC on matchday five of the 2011/12 competition; Partizan are without a win in 16 UEFA club competition group stage games (D4 L12) since a 1-0 win against FC Shakhtar Donetsk on matchday six of the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League.
Trivia and links
• Spurs' Harry Kane is one of four players with five goals in this season's group stage, along with Jonatan Soriano (FC Salzburg), David Lafata (AC Sparta Praha) and Raul Rusescu (FC Steaua Bucureşti).
• Spurs are the only side to have had more than one player sent off in this season's group stage, with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (at home v Asteras Tripolis FC) and Federico Fazio (away v Asteras) both shown red cards.
• Spurs boast a young Serbian talent in their ranks, Swiss-born 18-year-old defender Miloš Veljković making his first-team debut last season. He will look to make a bigger impact at the club than Goran Bunjevčević, the 'Serbian Beckenbauer' who spent five low-key years at White Hart Lane from 2001 to 2006.
• Partizan forward Danko Lazović was a member of the PSV Eindhoven side that eliminated Tottenham 6-5 on penalties in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16. Lazović had his penalty saved in the shoot-out, but a save from Jermaine Jenas's effort took it into sudden death, where Pascal Chimbonda's miss proved decisive.
• Partizan forward Ismaël Fofana was on the books at Spurs' London rivals Charlton Athletic FC, though he spent most of his time with the club out on loan abroad.
The coaches
• Former Argentina defender Mauricio Pochettino took charge of Tottenham in the summer after a successful first season in England at Southampton FC. A Copa del Rey winner in both of his spells at RCD Espanyol, he also played for Paris Saint-Germain and FC Girondins de Bordeaux but returned to the Barcelona club for his first coaching role in 2009.
• Just 35, Marko Nikolić took charge of Partizan in December 2013, having started his career as a youth coach at FK Rad, going on to coach their senior team, plus Serbia's Under-18 side and FK Vojvodina.