Ljubomir Fejsa

Ljubomir Fejsa (Serbian Cyrillic: Љубомир Фејса, pronounced [ʎǔbomir fě:jsa]; born 14 August 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and the Serbia national team as a defensive midfielder.

Ljubomir Fejsa
Fejsa playing for Benfica in 2017
Personal information
Full name Ljubomir Fejsa
Date of birth (1988-08-14) 14 August 1988
Place of birth Titov Vrbas, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Al-Ahli
Number 55
Youth career
2006 Hajduk Kula
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Hajduk Kula 58 (2)
2008–2011 Partizan 49 (2)
2011–2013 Olympiacos 20 (0)
2013–2020 Benfica 114 (1)
2015 Benfica B 2 (0)
2020 → Alavés (loan) 13 (0)
2020– Al-Ahli 11 (1)
National team‡
2008–2011 Serbia U21 23 (2)
2007– Serbia 25 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 December 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 June 2019

From 2008–09 to 2016–17, he won 10 consecutive league titles across three clubs – 3 with Partizan, 3 with Olympiacos and 4 with Benfica, winning the Super League Greece and the Primeira Liga in the 2013–14 season.[1]

Club career

Partizan

On 1 July 2008, it was announced that Fejsa signed for FK Partizan after the club had been interested in him for over a year. He signed a five-year contract and was given the number 5 shirt for Partizan.[2]

Olympiacos

On 21 June 2011 Fejsa signed with Olympiacos with a transfer fee of €3 million and signed a three plus one-year contract.[3] His first appearance was in a friendly 1–0 win against Galatasaray. He scored his first goal against Inter Milan during another friendly match. He showed good form at the beginning of 2011–12 season, and had impressive performances during the early stages of Champions League Groups. However, he was injured during training and missed the rest of the season.[4]

During the 2012–13 season, when Leonardo Jardim was named the head coach of Olympiacos, Fejsa was regularly benched and barely made any appearance during the Portuguese coach stay at the club. In February 2013, when Leonardo Jardim was sacked by Olympiacos due to the crowds dismay because of the playing style of the team, coach Míchel was hired and he immediately made Fejsa one of the starters.[5][6] He made decent appearances, despite being benched for most of the season and he was called back to Serbia national football team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Benfica

On 23 August 2013, Fejsa signed a five-year contract with Benfica for a reported fee of €4.5 million.[7][8]

Fejsa made his debut on 19 September 2013 in a Champions League match against Anderlecht.[9] He appear sporadically in the first half of the season, but with Nemanja Matić's transfer to Chelsea, he became the sole option to the position, appearing far more regularly, until an injury in early April 2014 sidelined him for the next months.[10][11]

On 2 February 2015, Benfica registered Fejsa at the LPFP, enabling him to play the rest of the season.[12] He returned to competition, debuting for the reserve team in Segunda Liga on 11 March. A month later, he returned to Benfica's first-team, as a substitute, and scored the fifth goal of the match against Académica (5–1) in Primeira Liga.[13]

On 29 January 2020, he was loaned out to Spanish La Liga side Alavés until the end of the season.[14]

Al-Ahli

Fejsa left Benfica on 24 September 2020, signing with Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli for two seasons.[15]

International career

Fejsa made his senior debut for the Serbia national team under the guidance of head coach Javier Clemente with a substitute appearance during the rescheduled UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier at home against Kazakhstan on 24 November 2007.[16] He also made substitute appearances against Northern Ireland, Faroe Islands and Italy in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying.[17]

Career statistics

Club
As of end of 2019–20 season[18]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other[lower-alpha 1] Total
Division AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hajduk Kula 2005–06 Serbian SuperLiga 4000————40
2006–07 Serbian SuperLiga 2210000——221
2007–08 Serbian SuperLiga 3210020——341
Total 5820020——602
Partizan 2008–09 Serbian SuperLiga 2703050——350
2009–10 Serbian SuperLiga 2023090——322
2010–11 Serbian SuperLiga 200000——20
Total 49260140——692
Olympiacos 2011–12 Super League Greece 401030——80
2012–13 Super League Greece 1508140——271
2013–14 Super League Greece 100000——10
Total 2009170——361
Benfica 2013–14 Primeira Liga 160207020270
2014–15 Primeira Liga 5100001061
2015–16 Primeira Liga 190106020280
2016–17 Primeira Liga 250107120351
2017–18 Primeira Liga 280204010350
2018–19 Primeira Liga 1802012010330
2019–20 Primeira Liga 3000200050
Total 114180381901692
Benfica B 2014–15 Segunda Liga20———20
Alavés (loan) 2019–20 La Liga13000——130
Al Ahli 2020–21 Saudi Professional League 111100000121
Career total 2676241611903618
Notes
  1. Includes Taça da Liga and Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

International
As of match played 7 June 2019[19]
Serbia national team
YearAppsGoals
200710
200800
200900
201010
201130
201250
201360
201410
201550
201610
201700
201810
201910
Total250

Honours

Partizan[20]

Olympiacos[20]

Benfica[20]

References
  1. Silva, Tiago Filipe (14 May 2017). "Fejsa, o "bom menino" que virou papa títulos" [Fejsa, the "good boy" who became title eater]. Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  2. "Fejsa novi član Partizana!" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  3. Ljubomir Fejsa signed for Olympiacos – Serbian (Cyrillic)
  4. "Fejsa out, Vidic doubtful for key Serbia clash". fourfourtwo. 8 October 2011.
  5. Ανακοίνωση της ΠΑΕ Ολυμπιακός (in Greek). olympiacos.org. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  6. Εποχή Μίτσελ στον Ολυμπιακό (in Greek). olympiacos.org. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  7. "Fejsa no Benfica por cinco milhões" [Fejsa in Benfica for five million]. desporto.sapo.pt. 23 August 2013.
  8. "Vieira confirma: Fejsa é jogador do Benfica" [Vieira confirms:Fejsa is a Benfica player]. maisfutebol.iol.pt. 23 August 2013.
  9. "Fejsa convenceu na estreia a titular: "Pulmão inesgotável"". maisfutebol.iol.pt. 19 September 2013.
  10. "Fejsa lesionado não viaja com o Benfica para a Holanda". noticiasaominuto.com. 2 April 2014.
  11. "Fejsa pode não jogar mais este ano". zerozero.pt. 29 May 2014.
  12. "Liga Portugal" (PDF) (in Portuguese). LPFP. 2 February 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  13. "Benfica – Académica (Jornada 28 Liga NOS 2014–2015) – Liga Portugal" (in Portuguese). LPFP. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  14. "Fejsa no Alavés" [Fejsa at Alavés] (in Portuguese). Benfica. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  15. "Al-Ahli confirma Fejsa" [Al-Ahli confirms Fejsa]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 24 September 2020.
  16. "Serbia 1–0 Kazakhstan". worldfootball.net. 24 November 2007.
  17. "Serbia 1–1 Italy". worldfootball.net. 7 October 2011.
  18. Ljubomir Fejsa at ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  19. "Ljubomir Fejsa". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
  20. Ljubomir Fejsa at Soccerway
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