Partizan clinched the Serbia and Montenegro title with a 4-0 win against Vojvodinaÿlast night.
The victory extended their lead over second-placedCrvena Zvezda to 14 points with only four games remaining.
Partizan, coached by German legend Lothar Matthaus, retained their title courtesy of a hat-trick from Serbo-Montenegrin international Zvonimir Vukic. Nigerian international defender Taribo West added the fourth.
Matthaus took over in December, replacing Ljubisa Tumbakovic, and he has now set his sights on helping Partizan become the first Serbian club to qualify for the Champions League.
“I have won a lot of trophies in my life and all of them are important to me, but this title is special since it is my first trophy as a coach. This country deserves a team in the Champions League and we will try to achieve that goal.”
“We’ve made very early exits from Europe in the past few years and I would surely like to change that,” he said.
“We will do our best to become the first Serbian team to qualify for a group stage of the European Champions League,” he added.
“We have a long way to go and a lot of hard work ahead of us in order to get there, but I will personally give all I have to make sure that Partizan fans and all of Serbia have lots to cheer about next season.
“We want to win more domestic silverware and finally make an impact in Europe as Partizan have the potential to achieve this while soccer fans here deserve it.”
