DPA/Belgrade

Albania are on fire ahead of tomorrow’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Serbia, hoping that a win will send them to the finals while humiliating a traditional Balkan foe.
Local officials say that the match in Elbasan is being treated as a top-risk event, though no Serbian fans will be coming - because of the long-standing hostility, the two countries agreed after the draw placed them together not to make tickets available to visitors.
The absence of visiting fans, however, does not preclude ruckus in football matches in the Balkans, as the Belgrade leg of the Albania-Serbia duel demonstrated a year ago on October 14.
That match was interrupted when a drone carrying a banner of the “Greater Albania” appeared over the pitch, leading to a brawl of players and a field invasion by Serbian fans.
The abandoned game, which led to a further cooling of historically poor Tirana-Belgrade ties, was eventually declared Serbia’s forfeit in July, with three points added to Albania’s tally.
Now, Albania are third in Group I with 11 points, one behind Denmark but with a game in hand.
While Denmark play their final match on Thursday against group leaders Portugal, Albania face the bottom-placed Serbia at home and, in the final round on October 11, the winless Armenia.
If Albania, regarded as European football minnows, secure six points from the two remaining matches, they will go to the Euros and mark the biggest achievement since winning a Balkans title in 1947.
With the huge chip on the table and aware that the European football body UEFA will closely monitor the match, Albanian authorities appear set to prevent any incident.
Hundreds of police will be deployed along the Tirana-Elbasan road that the teams will take for the match.
According to local media, hosts are seeking to avoid political provocation as well and will only allow Albanian flags in the stands.
There will be no flags with the insignia of Greater Albania, a territory with the majority Albanian population stretching over neighbouring countries, including Serbia.
Even banners of Kosovo, the former Serbian province with the majority Albanian population over which Belgrade and Tirana remain at odds, will be banned.
For Serbia - which has a win and a draw but is on a single point because of a three-point deduction for the botched match with Albania in Belgrade - the game in Elbasan has no competitive value, as the country has long since dropped from contention.
Coach Radovan Curcic said that he wants the team to show a good face, nevertheless, in the match against Albania and the farewell against Portugal three days later.
In a press conference Saturday, he did acknowledge that Albania has “grown into a serious team, with players in strong clubs and strong leagues.”
Curcic dismissed all issues aside of football: “We’re only interested in events on the pitch, nothing else concerns us.”