1. Ivanovic was born in the small town of Sremska Mitrovica, which is located near Novi Sad in Serbia. His father, Rade, was a professional footballer who played for their local club FK Srem.
2. Branislav started his career at Remont football club from Cacak, but was there for just half of the season, he then made his professional debut at FK Srem, his family’s home town club.
3. At 19, Ivanovic went to OFK Beograd. Despite the modest reputation of the team, he received a call-up to the Serbian national team and drew the attention of clubs from Europe’s stronger leagues. In the end he decided on Moscow and moved to Lokomotiv, then managed by fellow Serb, Slavoljub Muslin.
4. During his two seasons in Russia, Ivanovic became one of the Premier League's top defenders and in 2007 was award the player of the season in his position. Branislav won his only trophy in Russian then too, the Russian Cup. In total he played 71 games in all competitions for Loko, scoring 7 goals along the way.
5. On 15 January 2008, Chelsea announced the purchase of Ivanovic, but he had to wait until the following season to make his debut for the first team, spending the rest of that season in the reserves.
6. Branislav was in the Premier League for 8 years and represented Chelsea in 377 matches in all competitions and scored 34 goals. Making him the second highest goal scoring defender in the club's history.
7. As part of the London club Branislav twice won the Premier League, the FA Cup three times, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, the English League Cup and the FA Community Shield.
8. In 2013, Ivanovic became one of the "victims" of Luis Suarez, when the Uruguay striker picked a fight with the Serbian stopper and tried to take a bite out of him. In the same season, Branislav set a personal record, netting 8 goals for the blues in all competitions.
9. While at the Chelsea, Ivanovic came to Russia for the group stage of the Champions League in the 2010/11 season, when the English club faced Spartak Moscow in their group. The pensioners won 2-0 In the Luzhniki and then 4-1 at Stamford Bridge to easily see off Spartak. Branislav even scored twice in the home match in London. He also played for Chelsea again against Russian opposition, this time In the Europa League in 2012/13, playing three minutes against Rubin Kazan.
10. Branislav is captain of Serbia and has played 92 games and scored 12 goals for his country. He is also approaching the record of Dejan Stankovic for international caps, Branislav is only 11 games behind the legendary midfielder.
