Return leg of the clash between Anorthosis and Rabotnicki. Can the Boys from Debar Maalo eliminate the Cypriot giant? Can Rabotnicki achieve the greatest success of the Macedonian club football by playing in four rounds of a single competition? We shall see!
Today at 20.00 CET at the National Arena Philip II of Macedon in Skopje, Rabotnicki hosts Anorthosis. After the 0:2 win away in Cyprus, the Macedonians are one step closer to the 4th qualifying round of the Europa League, or the so called play-off. But, 90 minutes are yet to be played and anything is possible.
Rabotnicki will be without defender Igor Stojanov who is injured and will be out of action for around two weeks. It is expected Rabotnicki will field the following eleven: Dimitrievski; Todorovski, Bogdanovik, Kumbev, Lazarevski; Petrovik, Velkovski, Vujčić, Nastevski; Velkoski, Manevski. It is the same line-up from the first leg only with Milovan Petrovik taking the place of the injured Stojanov. Petrovik also substituted Stojanov in the first game and later opened the score, while the second goal was scored by Krste Velkoski. The goal was extra special for Velkoski since he was labeled a flop in Cyprus for his unsuccessful brief stint with Enosis Neon Paralimni, his former club before he rejoined Rabotnicki during the January transfer window of 2011.
Anorthosis will play without the center back Igor Tomašić who is suspended as he collected two yellow cards, one in the first leg and one in the previous round against Garga. Visitors’ expected eleven are: Ivankov; Sprockel, Colin, Janício, Andić; Marquinhos, Laban, Vučićević, Cristovão; Okkas, Rezek.
Rabotnicki must have the right mindset in this game as overconfidence could prove costly. Keep in mind that just last year, Anorthosis erased a 0:2 home deficit by beating Croatian club Šibenik 3:0 in the return leg to advance to the next round. Rabotnicki will be hoping that does not happen again this year. Anorthosis created numerous chances in the first game and has a solid team so Rabotnicki must play disciplined and inspired football if they plan on advancing to the play-off round. It would help if young keeper Stole Dimitrievski has another strong showing as he shined in the first leg by keeping a clean sheet to frustrate the Cypriot club.
Referee for the game will be Nikolay Yordanov from Bulgaria. A lot of controversy was raised over the decision by UEFA to appoint a Bulgarian referee for this match. The fact is that Anorthosis is managed by Bulgarian Stanimir Stoilov who has many connections when it comes to football in Bulgaria. The team also has several Bulgarian players and assistant coaches so it would have been wiser for UEFA to appoint a referee from a different country. They are just raising unnecessary doubt with the referee selection and any blatant decision that goes against the Macedonian club will raise conspiracies from the stands and the Macedonian public. This could have easily been avoided but UEFA decided to stick with the Bulgarian referee for this match.
The tickets for the game are available only for the North stand with a price of 150 Denars (2.45 Euros). The visitors requested 60 tickets for their fans, so Anorthosis will have some support at Philip II.