Branislav Ivanovic left terrified by flares during Zenit’s title celebrations

You have to feel for the guy

When a football team wins a title it is a time for celebration. All the hard work of the past months have led to this; the culmination of blood, sweat and tears into a tangible reward. Those that have battled to reach the summit can finally relax for a short while as they bask in the glow of a job well done. A least they should be able to, unless they play in Russia and are absolutely fucking terrified of flares like a certain Branislav Ivanovic. Ivanovic's Zenit St. Petersburg side sealed the Russian Premier League title with a 1-1 draw against Akhmat Grozny, with the point enough to clinch the league given their nine-point lead over FC Krasnodar and Lokomotiv Moscow. After learning the news about their victory while flying back to St. Petersburg, the squad touched down in the city to celebrate with fans. https://twitter.com/rfpl/status/1124781600552759297?s=20 They were greeted with an outpouring of support - unsurprisingly - and an absolute shit tonne of flares - also unsurprisingly. Most of the players seemed to enjoy it immensely, apart from Ivanovic, who could be seen ducking and hiding as the flares were initially being lit, before disappearing out of sight entirely when the light show truly began. To be fair to the Serbian defender, we do have some sympathy. Fire is quite scary after all.