Partizan Push Back Nis Trip to Clear Room for Tobol

Bogdan Kostic found the net in the 48th minute in Luxembourg, three minutes into the second half. Until then the evening on Una Strassen’s pitch had the feel of an errand, because the real work had been done in Humska a week earlier. The goal simply signed off on a tie that was already settled.

Partizan won the second qualifying round return leg 1-0 and the tie 5-0 on aggregate, having taken the first game in Belgrade 4-0. They did not concede in either match. One detail gets garbled easily: Partizan entered the competition at the second round, while Una Strassen had to come through the first round, where they knocked out La Fiorita.

We covered that trip to Luxembourg before it was played, when Sasa Ilic went west two men short with a 4-0 lead to protect. He protected it without a scare. What has changed since then is bigger than one scoreline: the whole August calendar is now on the table, and the club has already moved a league fixture because of it.

Why was the trip to Nis called off?

Partizan asked for their fourth-round Mozzart Bet Superliga game away to Radnicki to be postponed. It had been set for August 8 at the Cair stadium, two days after the first European leg in Humska. A new date will be announced later.

The arithmetic is not complicated. Playing at Cair would have squeezed another trip and another ninety minutes between the two meetings with Tobol, and the squad would have flown to Kazakhstan already worn thin. Instead they get a clear seven-day gap, which at this stage of the qualifiers is the difference between rotating a team and improvising one. For a side sitting on four points from two league rounds, a draw with Zemun and a win over Macva, the order of priorities is now stated out loud.

Partizan’s August, date by date

• August 2: Partizan v IMT in Humska, the last domestic game before Europe
• August 6: Partizan v Tobol in Humska, kick-off at 9 p.m.
• August 13: Tobol v Partizan in Kostanay, Kazakhstan
• Radnicki Nis away, date to be confirmed

Tobol came through on penalties

Tobol of Kostanay did not stroll into this round. Their tie with Lithuanian side Panevezys finished 2-2 on aggregate, extra time settled nothing, and the shoot-out decided it. A team that survives that is not automatically the better team, but it is a stubborn one, used to matches that stay open until the last kick.

Looking at the calendar, the second leg is the one that costs. Kostanay sits in northern Kazakhstan, the flight is long, and the time difference and midsummer pitch out there are not problems a single session on arrival solves. That is what makes the Nis postponement both sensible and expensive: the club traded rhythm in the domestic league for fresh legs on the way back from Asia.

Nobre in Belgrade, Chiffi in Kazakhstan

UEFA has appointed the officials for both games. The first leg on August 6 in Humska goes to Portuguese referee Antonio Nobre. The return in Kostanay will be handled by Daniele Chiffi of Italy, a Serie A official, so the away leg gets a referee used to the tempo of one of Europe’s strongest leagues.

The play-off draw lands on August 3

The play-off round draw is scheduled for August 3 at 2 p.m. in Nyon, Switzerland. Partizan will know the name of their possible next opponent before they even walk out against Tobol. Get past the Kazakhs and they would be seeded in the play-off, which matters, because a seeded side avoids the heaviest names in the pot and normally plays the first leg away.

Moving the Cair fixture is an admission of what actually counts in Humska this autumn. The first test of that calculation arrives on Sunday, August 2, against IMT.