Champions League | League Stage

Nov 6, 2024 at 8pm UK

Stadion Rajko Mitic

Red Star vs Barcelona

Match preview

Apart from a couple of losses against Monaco (2-1) in the Champions League and Osasuna (4-2) in La Liga, Barcelona have been on a roll at the start of this season, winning 13 other games and scoring an impressive 24 goals. They head into Wednesday's game with a six-game winning streak.

Hansi Flick's team had a great start to the Champions League, beating Young Boys 5-0 at home in their second match and then beating Bayern Munich 4-1 on matchday three. This helped them climb up to 10th in the 36-team UCL table and to within three points of the summit.

In the league, Barcelona followed up their 4-0 win against Real Madrid with a 3-1 win against Espanyol last weekend. Dani Olmo and Raphinha scored for Barcelona, while Espanyol scored through a penalty.

Barcelona are already nine points clear at the top of La Liga, although they've played a game more than Real Madrid in second. They're now turning their attention back to the Champions League, preparing for their first encounter with Red Star since October 1996. Back then, the Catalan giants won 4-2 on aggregate in the second round of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, en route to winning the competition.

After netting nine goals across their last two Champions League matches against Young Boys (four) and Bayern (five), Barcelona are now aiming to score four or more goals in three consecutive European matches for the first time since the 1959-60 campaign, when they scored five against AC Milan and nine across a two-legged tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Red Star Belgrade are one of nine clubs still searching for their first victory in the 2024-25 Champions League. They are also one of six teams yet to pick up a single point after three matches. They have conceded a joint-high 11 goals, tied with Slovan Bratislava and Dinamo Zagreb.

The Red-Whites lost 2-1 at home to Benfica on matchday one and were beaten 4-0 away against Inter Milan on matchday two. They then lost 5-1 at Monaco in their most recent UCL game a fortnight ago. Red Star have lost 81% of their Champions League matches (W2 D2 L17), which is the worst ratio of any team that has played at least 20 games in the competition.

As you might expect, Vladan Milojević's side are languishing in 33rd place in the 36-team table, but they are only three points behind the last-16 playoff spots with five games remaining. It's tough to see the Serbia team getting any points in their next three games against Barcelona, Stuttgart and AC Milan.

While it's been tough for Red Star to get points in the Champions League, they've been killing it at home. They've won 12 and drawn one of their 13 Serbian SuperLiga matches this term, scoring 43 goals and conceding just eight. They've extended their lead at the top of the table to 10 points thanks to a 3-0 win over Vojvodina on Sunday, four days after thrashing Tekstilac Odzaci 7-0 in the Serbian Cup.

Red Star head into Wednesday's clash with Barcelona having only won two of their previous nine European meetings with the Catalan giants. Both of those wins came during the 1960s in the Fairs Cup, with a 3-2 win in December 1962 and a 1-0 win in January 1963. They're now trying to avoid becoming the first team since Benfica between March 2017 and September 2018 to lose eight Champions League games in a row.

Recent Performance

Red Star Belgrade Champions League form:LWLLL

Red Star Belgrade form (all competitions):LLWLLL

Barcelona Champions League form:LWW

Barcelona form (all competitions):WWWWWW

Team News

We're without Peter Olayinka for Wednesday's game due to an Achilles injury, and Nemanja Radonjic is also set to miss out after being forced off with an unspecified issue just eight minutes after coming on as a substitute against Vojvodina on Sunday.

It's unclear whether goalkeeper Omri Glazer and defender Ognjen Mimovic will be ready to return to the matchday squad against Barcelona, as they've been sidelined for much of this season due to injury.

Cherif Ndiaye is Red Star's top scorer so far this season with 10 goals in 14 games. He's expected to lead the line alongside Bruno Duarte, who has six goals to his name this term. Meanwhile, ex-AC Milan midfielder Rade Krunic, Timi Max Elsnik and 17-year-old Andrija Maksimovic could all link up in the middle of the pitch.

Barcelona will be without several players due to injury. These include Marc-André ter Stegen, Marc Bernat (both knee), Ronald Araujo, Ferran Torres (both hamstring), Eric García (muscle) and Andreas Christensen (Achilles).

Flick might think about bringing Jules Kounde back as right-back instead of Hector Fort, while Frenkie de Jong and Gavi are hoping to get back into centre midfield ahead of Marc Casado and Pedri.

Raphinha has contributed to 20 goals (11 goals, nine assists) in 15 games under Flick. We're expecting the Brazilian winger – who scored a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Bayern Munich on matchday three – to start in attack next to Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal.

Possible starting lineups

Red Star Belgrade possible starting lineup:

Ilic; Young-woo, Spajic, Djiga; Silas, Krunic, Elsnik, Maksimovic, Rodic; Duarte, Ndiaye

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski