Exactly ten games featured Macedonian internationals in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League qualifications and here is a recap of their performances:
UEFA Champions League, Second qualifying round, Skënderbeu – APOEL 0:2
Ivan Trickovski was an unused substitute for APOEL who scored both goals during a four minute stretch in the 2nd half. The fact that Trickovski did not play in this game has led to some speculation that maybe APOEL plans on selling him since if Trickovski played, he would not have been able to play for another team in a European competition which would have lowered his market value. Trickovski was linked with Scottish giants Rangers earlier this summer and maybe they have revisited their interest in Trickovski which prompted APOEL not to play him in this match-up with the hope of getting an improved offer since Rangers will also be involved in Champions League qualifying.
UEFA Champions League, Second qualifying round, Dinamo Zagreb – Neftçi 3:0
Slavco Georgievski played the entire game for Neftçi while his teammate Igor Mitreski also got the start and played until the 44th minute when he picked up an injury and had to be substituted by Javid Huseynov. Neftçi was organized to start the game and their defense frustrated Dinamo Zagreb but the Croatian club scored just before halftime to take the momentum into the locker room. Dinamo Zagreb added two more goals in the 2nd half to put away Neftçi who will now have a big hole to climb during the second leg on 19 July 2011.
UEFA Champions League, Second qualifying round, Partizan – Shkendija 4:0
Aleksandar Lazevski was not called up by Partizan because of an injury as the Serbian club cruised to a comfortable victory by scoring all four goals in the 2nd half.
UEFA Champions League, Second qualifying round, Maribor – Dudelange 2:0
Agim Ibraimi played all 90 minutes for Maribor and had a solid game as he played a part in both goals. Ibraimi provided the assist on the first goal for Maribor in the 37th minute when he took a free kick from the right which reached Arghus in the box whose header went past the visiting keeper. Then, just before halftime, Ibraimi scored directly from a free kick as the opposing keeper got a piece of the ball but he couldn’t keep it from reaching the back of the net. Ibraimi was active throughout the match and had a solid debut for Maribor in a European competition after joining the club earlier this summer from fellow Slovenian club Nafta Lendava.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=JRAIFd5xNzU
UEFA Champions League, Second qualifying round, Zestafoni – Dacia 3:0
Goran Dimovski played from the start for Dacia who suffered a convincing loss away to Zestafoni with the home side scoring all three goals in the 1st half.
UEFA Europa League, Second qualifying round, Vaduz – Vojvodina 0:2
Daniel Mojsov played the entire game for Vojvodina as he started at CB and helped his side hold a clean sheet away to Vaduz. Mojsov is still with Vojvodina although he was rumored to join Dynamo Moskva several weeks ago. It seems the asking price remains a problem as teams are hesitant to pay the money that Vojvodina is seeking for Mojsov.
UEFA Europa League, Second qualifying round, Vllaznia – Thun 0:0
Muhamed Demiri played all 90 minutes for Thun who have a new manager this season in Bernard Challandes but they were held to a goalless draw against Vllaznia.
UEFA Europa League, Second qualifying round, Željezničar – Sheriff 1:0
Perica Stanceski was an unused substitute for Željezničar who picked up a narrow win against Sheriff, a team that has made the group stages of the Europa League for two consecutive years.
UEFA Europa League, Second qualifying round, Olimpija Ljubljana – Bohemians 2:0
Dragan Cadikovski started on the bench for Olimpija Ljubljana before he entered the game in the 78th minute replacing Matic Finc. This was the debut for Cadikovski in a Olimpija Ljubljana uniform after he joined the club several weeks ago from Rudar Velenje.
UEFA Europa League, Second qualifying round, EB/Streymur – Qarabağ 1:1
Nderim Nedzipi was an unused substitute for Qarabağ who were held to a disappointing draw against their opponnents from the Faroe Islands. Qarabağ was expected to easily get past EB/Streymur but they conceded a goal in the 90th minute and the second leg will now decide this encounter.
* Marjan Andonov from Lokomotiv Sofia was also supposed to be mentioned in this article but in a list submitted to UEFA, he was listed as being Bulgarian so since Andonov is all of a sudden Bulgarian, he will no longer be included in the Macedonian internationals performances moving forward.