Red Star Belgrade

The overlord of Yugoslav football once dominated Europe. Although they have not been able to continue to create myths in the European arena in recent years, they are still indestructible in the domestic league. When the Yugoslav League started in the 1946/47 season, Partizan, also from Belgrade, won the championship, Dinamo Zagreb was the runner-up in the league, and Red Star, a team that had been in the Congolese team for a year, won the third place. In addition, the Red Star team was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Yugoslav Football Association Cup. They lost 0-2 in the derby against Partizan. In 1948, the Red Star team won the first championship trophy in the team's history - the Yugoslavia Football Association Cup. After that, they completed three consecutive FA Cup championships. It took until 1951 for the team to win the league championship. As time goes by, Red Star gradually takes the lead in the competition with Partizan. So far, they have won a total of 22 Yugoslav League championships. After the division of Yugoslavia, they almost monopolized the domestic league championship. They have reached the FA Cup finals a total of 29 times and have won the championship 19 times. Reaching the Champions League final in 1979 was the beginning of the team's prestige in Europe. Their opponent was Monchengladbach. The first round was held at the Yugoslav Stadium, the home stadium of Red Star. The Red Star team played very well and soon led the opponent by one goal. However, in the 60th minute of the second half, defender Jurisic accidentally kicked the ball into his own door, and the final score of the game was locked at 1-1. In the second round, they came to Germany. The visiting Red Star team had a strong offensive, but the referee on duty obviously wanted the home team to win. Many of the Red Star team's attacks were ruined by the referee's inappropriate whistle. On the contrary, Monchengladbach's Simonsen dived in the penalty area and won a penalty kick for the home team. With this penalty, Borussia finally defeated Red Star 1-0 at home. They also won the 1979 Champions League with a total score of 2-1. Talking about this game still makes many Red Star fans brood. The Red Star team was not defeated by this defeat, and their efforts finally ushered in another peak of the team. The team entered the 1990/91 season. Like another Eastern European team that won the Champions League five years ago, Steaua Bucharest, they also relied on penalty kicks to win the final victory. Red Star is undefeated in this year's Champions League! The 1991 championship team was truly star-studded. Yugovic, Mihajlovic, Savicevic and Prosineski all later made their mark in Europe's top leagues. In the European Super Cup that year, they lost 0-1 to Manchester United. In the Toyota Cup, they returned to their heroic form and easily defeated Chile's Colo-Colo 3-0. Liobu Petrovic, who is now coaching in China, is the meritorious coach who won the championship that year. Old Peter, who advocates iron bowl management, has absolute authority in the team. This group of players under him can grow into Europe's top players in the future, and Peter is indispensable. In the 1991/92 season, the Red Star team was in the same group as Sampdoria led by Maradona in the Champions League group stage. Due to the domestic political turmoil, opponents were unwilling to travel to Yugoslavia for their own safety. Therefore, Yugoslavia's home games were played at neutral venues. In the two rounds of 6 games, they lost to Sampdoria twice, defeated Panathinaikos twice, and won one game in Anderlecht. They finished two points behind Sampdoria and missed the final. The domestic situation in Yugoslavia was very unstable and the economy was in recession. A large number of outstanding players were poached by big-name European clubs before they were fully mature. Red Star also fell into underestimation. They did not reappear in the European Champions Cup until the 2000/01 season, but they failed to pass the qualifying rounds. Domestically, they are also at a disadvantage in the competition with guerrillas, and have been robbed of the championship trophy by guerrillas for two consecutive years.