Partizan v Beşiktaş background

FK Partizan will be eager to end their UEFA Europa League Group C scoring drought – not to mention their long wait for a group stage win – as Beşiktaş JK visit Belgrade for the first time.

Form guide
• Turkish clubs are unbeaten in three games in Serbia (W1 D2) since the turn of the millennium. However, Galatasaray AŞ's 5-1 victory at OFK Beograd in 2010/11 UEFA Europa League qualifying remains the only triumph for a Turkish side on Serbian soil.

• Partizan have yet to score in Group C; they have also gone 14 matches (D4 L10) without a UEFA group stage win since beating FC Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 in their final game of the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League.

• Beşiktaş are unbeaten in five UEFA group stage encounters (W3 D2), having kicked off Group C with back-to-back 1-1 draws.

Trivia and links
• Partizan have failed to make it through their last five UEFA group stage campaigns since getting to the round of 16 via the inaugural UEFA Cup group stage in 2004/05.

• This is Beşiktaş's sixth group stage campaign in this competition; they failed to make it through three UEFA Cup group stages but have progressed on both attempts since the advent of the UEFA Europa League.

• Partizan's Saša Ilić (Galatasaray AŞ 2005-07) and Nikola Drinčić (Gaziantepspor 2006-07) both have Turkish league experience.

The coaches
• 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.

• Beşiktaş coach since June 2013, Slaven Bilić earned a bronze medal as a defender with Croatia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals, and went on to lead his team to UEFA EURO 2008 and UEFA EURO 2012 as a coach. A rock music fan with a law degree, he was in charge at FC Lokomotiv Moskva before moving to Turkey.