#Men'sFirstTeam #ChampionsLeague #PreMatch #Crvenazvezda

Spotlight on... Crvena zvezda

Tue 22 October 2019, 10:45|Tottenham Hotspur

We return to Champions League action against Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) at home on Tuesday night in a key encounter in Group B (8pm).

This will be our third competitive meeting with Red Star, having progressed past the Belgrade-based outfit with a 2-1 triumph over two legs in our 1972 UEFA Cup third round tie.

So, ahead of their visit to N17, we put the Serbian side under the spotlight...

Team news

Crvena zvezda have just one injury concern ahead of our meeting with striker Richmond Boakye a doubt for the game.

Champions League campaign so far

Crvena zvezda started their journey this season in the Champions League back in July as they entered the competition in the first qualifying round. They kicked-off their run to the group stages with victory over Lithuanian outfit FK Suduva and then battled past HJK Helsinki and F.C. Copenhagen in rounds two and three before defeating Swiss side Young Boys on away goals to seal their qualification.

On Matchday One of the group stage, they suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Bayern Munich but, last time out, they claimed their first three points as they secured a 3-1 win over Olympiacos.

Domestic form

Since the 2015/16 season, Crvena zvezda have lost just three times in the Serbian SuperLiga. In a run of 131 games, they took all three points on 113 occasions and in both the 2015/16 and 2018/19 seasons, they went unbeaten. So far this campaign, they have already played 23 games in all competitions; they have lost just three of those and have won 16, including their last six on the spin. In that winning run, they have conceded just four and have scored 21. They are top of the league again with 10 wins in 11 so far.

One to watch

Former Chelsea man Marko Marin is the creative spark in the Red Star midfield who propels the Serbian side forward. Since arriving in Belgrade, the midfielder has been directly involved in 30 goals in just 46 games and this season alone, he has already been involved in 10 goals in 15 appearances. Marin made his name in the Bundesliga at a young age for Borussia Mönchengladbach and Werder Bremen - interestingly enough, he played against us for Werder Bremen in our first-ever Champions League group match in 2010 - before moving to Stamford Bridge in 2012, where he helped the Blues to the Europa League title in 2013. The German international has also had spells at Sevilla, Fiorentina, Anderlecht, Trabzonspor and Olympiacos.

Leader of the opposition

A former player for Red Star, Vladan Milojević took charge of his former side in 2017 and has since led the Serbian outfit to back-to-back SuperLiga titles. A defender in his playing days, Milojević spent much of his playing career in Greece but did have a spell with Crvena zvezda in 1996. After hanging up his boots in 2004, he began his senior managerial career seven years later with Javor Ivanjica before having stints in charge of Čukarički, Omonia and Panionios in Greece ahead of his move to Belgrade two years ago.

Previous meetings

13 December, 1972 – Crvena zvezda 1-0 Spurs – UEFA Cup third round second leg
29 November, 1972 – Spurs 2-0 Crvena zvezda – UEFA Cup third round first leg

The numbers game

14 - Harry Kane has scored 14 goals in 16 UEFA Champions League group stage matches – since Harry’s debut in the competition in September, 2016, only Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski (19) have scored more goals in the group stages.

1 - Crvena zvezda have won just one of their 10 away UEFA European games in England (W1 D4 L5), winning 2-1 against Liverpool in November, 1973, in the European Cup.

4 – Since their debut in the competition’s revised format in 2018, Crvena zvezda have lost all four of their away matches, scoring twice and conceding 16. The last team to lose their first five away matches in the UEFA Champions League were Malmö FF in November, 2015.

3 - On home soil, we have won all three of our previous meetings with teams from Serbia (inc. Yugoslavia) in Europe by an aggregate score of 6-1.

2 - Crvena zvezda are looking to win consecutive European Cup/Champions League matches for the first time since March, 1992, when they won three in a row as holders of the European Cup.