Problems began after a drone carrying the Albanian nationalist flag was flown over the pitch during the match.
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A spokesman for the Serbian side confirmed media reports that the team would take their own Serbian chef, to reduce the chances of sabotage.
Security is tight for the bitter rivals’ meeting on Thursday in the central city of Elbasan, after last October’s match had to be halted when violence broke out both on and off the field.
Having lost any hope of qualifying for Euro 2016, Serbia had only pride to play for against the Albanians and they salvaged it thanks to Ljajic’s most impressive performance of his troubled worldwide career.
Their animosity has roots in Kosovo, a majority-Albanian former province of Serbia that declared independence in 2008, nearly a decade after North Atlantic Treaty Organisation went to war to end the massacre and expulsion of ethnic Albanians by Serbian security forces trying to crush a two-year guerrilla insurgency.
President of Serbia’s football federation Tomislav Karadzic criticised the Albanian police for the route organised from the airport to the team hotel. A sizeable one landed in the vicinity of the second or third row of seats, where our players were sitting. But they [Albanian police] have guaranteed that this will not happen again. “We have seen migrants arriving in Serbia processed efficiently, treated with great respect and moved on efficiently to the next country of transit”.
AP reported last month that “soccer authorities in Albania are appealing to fans to be on their best behavior” for the new match.
About 1,500 police officers were deployed to ensure there was no trouble in Elbasan, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) south of Tirana.
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Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic admitted: “We know that there is tension, that all eyes are on this game, that a few want to turn it into something that is not football”.
