Luka Milivojević

Luka Milivojević (Serbian Cyrillic: Лука Миливојевић, pronounced [lûːka miliʋǒːjeʋitɕ]; born 7 April 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and captains Premier League club Crystal Palace and the Serbian national team.

Luka Milivojević
Milivojević with Serbia at the 2018 World Cup
Personal information
Full name Luka Milivojević[1]
Date of birth (1991-04-07) 7 April 1991[2]
Place of birth Kragujevac, SFR Yugoslavia[2]
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Crystal Palace
Number 4
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Radnički Kragujevac 5 (1)
2008–2012 Rad 49 (3)
2012–2013 Red Star Belgrade 36 (7)
2013–2014 Anderlecht 19 (0)
2014–2017 Olympiacos 62 (11)
2017– Crystal Palace 113 (27)
National team‡
2011–2012 Serbia U21 11 (1)
2012– Serbia 36 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:28, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2019

He began his career with Radnički Kragujevac and then played for Rad before signing for Red Star Belgrade in January 2012. He later won the Belgian Pro League with Anderlecht and Superleague Greece twice with Olympiacos before a €16 million transfer to Crystal Palace in January 2017. Milivojević made his international debut for Serbia in 2012 and was part of their squad at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early years

Milivojević's first season as senior was with his home town club Radnički Kragujevac during the 2007–08 season, then playing in the Serbian League West. At the end of that season he moved to the top league club Rad entered into the senior team in the 2008–09 season. He played as right side midfielder.

Red Star Belgrade

Milivojević signed for Red Star Belgrade on 19 December 2011.[3] His arrival to Red Star was largely due to the desire of coach Robert Prosinečki, who believed that Milivojević had bright potential. On 17 November 2012, Milivojević scored an impressive goal against city rivals Partizan.[4]

Anderlecht

On 26 July 2013, Milivojević signed a five-year contract with Belgian football giants Anderlecht.[5] On 1 September 2014, it was announced that Milivojević had joined Olympiacos on loan from Anderlecht.[6]

After the 2014–15 season, Milivojević reiterated his desire to stay with Olympiacos. The two clubs could have started new negotiations after the season ended; Milivojević stated that his wish was to make the move permanent.[7] According to reports in Belgium, Olympiacos were to meet Anderlecht's asking price in order to complete the permanent transfer of Milivojević. Olympiacos were in negotiations with the Belgian club as they were reluctant to pay the €2.7 million Anderlecht asked for Milivojević.[8]

Olympiacos

On 4 June 2015, Anderlecht confirmed that it had reached an agreement with Olympiacos for the permanent transfer of Milivojević. He had spent a season with the club, and joined the Greek champions by signing a four-year contract, for a fee of €2.3 million.[9][10][11] On 30 June 2015, Olympiacos turned down a bid in the region of €5 million from Fenerbahce.

Crystal Palace
Milivojević in action against Manchester United

On 31 January 2017, Milivojević signed for Crystal Palace on a three-and-a-half year contract for an undisclosed fee.[12] On 10 April 2017, he scored his first goal for Palace with a penalty kick in his team's 3–0 home win over Arsenal,[13] and got his other goal of the season on 14 May in a 4–0 win at Selhurst Park against Hull City, which secured his team's place in the top flight for next season and relegated the opponents.[14]

In 2017–18, Milivojević was Palace's top scorer with 10 goals as the Eagles recovered from a poor start to the season to finish 11th under new manager Roy Hodgson.[15] He developed a reputation for taking penalties, scoring nine of the ten he took in his first 1​1⁄2 seasons with Palace; he had never taken a penalty in a professional match prior to joining Crystal Palace.[16][17] The one he did miss was on 31 December 2017 in added time at the end of a goalless draw against Manchester City, with Ederson making a save for the team who had won their last 18 matches.[18]

On 28 October 2018, Milivojević scored two penalties in a 2–2 home draw with Arsenal, ending the visitors' run of 12 consecutive victories.[19] Away to Manchester City on 22 December, he scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in a 3–2 victory over the title holders.[20]

In August 2019, Milivojević signed a contract extension with Crystal Palace keeping him at the club until 2023.[21]

International career

He was a member of the Serbia national under-21 football team. He had been called up for the Serbia national football team squad on 29 September 2011, to face Italy and Slovenia in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying phase.[22] He made his debut for Serbia on 14 November 2012 in a friendly match with Chile.[23] On 6 October 2017 he scored his first goal for Serbia in a World Cup Qualifying match with Austria.[24]

In June 2018, he was included in the final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[25] There he appeared in two matches, against Costa Rica[26] and Switzerland.[27]

Career statistics

Club
As of 24 June 2020[28]
Club statistics
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Radnički Kragujevac 2007–08 Serbian League West 5100———51
Rad 2008–09 Serbian SuperLiga 1000———10
2009–10 9000———90
2010–11 26000———260
2011–12 13310—40—183
Total 49310—40—543
Red Star Belgrade 2011–12 Serbian SuperLiga 11130———142
2012–13 25620—50—326
2013–14 0000—10—10
Total 36750—60—477
Anderlecht 2013–14 Belgian Pro League 16010—4000210
2014–15 3000—001040
Total 19010—4010250
Olympiacos 2014–15 Super League 23274—7000376
2015–16 22330—6000313
2016–17 17610—8000266
Total 6211114—210009415
Crystal Palace 2016–17 Premier League 14200—0000142
2017–18 3610001000003710
2018–19 3812301000004212
2019–20 25310000000263
Total 113274020—0011927
Career total 28449224203501034353

International
Milivojević at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
As of 17 November 2019[29]
Serbia
YearAppsGoals
201210
201360
201540
201680
201751
201860
201960
Total361

International goal
Scores and results list Serbia's goal tally first.[29]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.6 October 2017Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria Austria1–02–32018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club
Red Star Belgrade
Anderlecht
Olympiacos

Individual

References
  1. "Squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  2. "Milivojević: Luka Milivojević: Player". BDFutbol. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  3. Novi Magazin (Serbian): Luka Milivojević potpisao za Zvezdu 19 December 2012
  4. Blic Sport: Milivojević: Ceo život sam sanjao i molio Boga da dam gol Partizanu (in Serbian) 18 November 2012
  5. Sports Mole: Milivojević joins Anderlecht (28 July 2013)
  6. Στα «ερυθρόλευκα» ο Μιλιβόγεβιτς (in Greek). Olympiacos.org. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  7. "Milivojević wants to commit his future to Olympiakos". www.sdna.gr. 19 April 2015.
  8. "Olympiakos poised to activate Milivojevic buy-out clause". www.sdna.gr. 20 April 2015.
  9. "Anderlecht cède définitivement Luka Milivojevic à Olympiacos". www.lameuse.be. 4 June 2015.
  10. "Θρύλος και Μιλιβόγεβιτς συνεχίζουν μαζί!". www.olympiacos.org. 4 June 2015.
  11. "Μιλιβόγεβιτς ως το 2019". www.sport24.gr. 4 June 2015.
  12. "Milivojevic Joins The Eagles". Crystal Palace Official Site. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  13. Butler, Michael (10 April 2017). "Crystal Palace v Arsenal: Premier League – live!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  14. Johnston, Neil (14 May 2017). "Crystal Palace 4–0 Hull City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  15. "Crystal Palace 2017/18 Premier League season review". Sky Sports. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  16. "Milivojevic: Last 16 would be huge for Serbia". FIFA. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  17. "Milivojevic leads the way with penalty prowess". Premier League. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  18. Delaney, Miguel (31 December 2017). "Luka Milivojevic misses stoppage-time penalty as Crystal Palace end Manchester City's winning run". The Independent. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  19. Fifield, Dominic (28 October 2018). "Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic holds his nerve to end Arsenal's winning run". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  20. Khan, Alam (22 December 2017). "Manchester City vs Crystal Palace: Stunning defeat hands Liverpool the edge in title race". The Independent. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  21. "Luka Milivojevic signs Palace contract extension". CPFC. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  22. Milivojević: "Hvala Jankoviću, biću još bolji at Sportske.net
  23. Mondo (Serbian): "Orlovi" opet poleteli... 14 November 2012
  24. 6 October 2017
  25. "Soccer: Krstajic names Serbia's final 23-man World Cup squad". reuters.com. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  26. Timothy Abraham (17 June 2018). "Costa Rica 0–1 Serbia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  27. Matthew Henry (23 June 2018). "Serbia 1–2 Switzerland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  28. "Serbia - L.Milivojević - Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  29. "Milivojević, Luka". National Football Teams. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
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