The red and white strike again with the fifth consecutive 1-0 result in the Europa League, this time with a very awkward, almost comical goal, scored with a hip thrust / run-in from Franklin Tebo Uchenna. The Serbian side broke their pattern of losing to French teams in away games, as this is the first match in the last 16 that they didn’t lose. A historical win for Red Star!
Dejan Stanković surprised the audience with his starting eleven, opting for a formation that allowed for a faster transformation from the defensive line. Instead of playing Tiknizyan as left back, he was positioned as a wing back. This allowed the Armenian international to counter the opposition’s rapid transformations more easily, as well as giving him more space to intervene and contribute to the attacking. This, in turn, meant Jay Enem could attract more attention from the Dogues and give more playing space to Tiknizyan.
Another surprise in the line-up was the absence of Nemanja Radonjić, the golden boy of Red Star. He got suspended for unsportsmanlike behavior for the third time in less than a year. Apparently, he asked the manager If he could train with “less intensity” ahead of the game since he wanted to celebrate his 30th birthday the night before training. Dejan said no, so Nemanja simply didn’t show up to training.
Last time Nemanja got suspended, he said he wasn’t feeling well enough to play against Javor, and then missed the game, all the while posting highlights from the El Clásico, which he attended as a fan.
Aside from a short match announcement from L’Equipe, French journalists wrote almost exclusively about the Serbian attacker and his antics, finding literally everything else about the match less important. The French public is already familiar with Nemanja, since he played in Marseille from 2018 to 2023. Most of that time, though, he spent on loan to three different teams, none of which were impressed. Great PR for Red Star!
Bruno Genesio, on the other hand, thought he could beat Red Star with both Giroud and Bentaleb on the bench. By the time they came on, it was already too late. Red Star was confident, and the Lillois didn’t do enough to shake them. Regardless of the angle French journalists decided to explore, it turns out the Dogues underestimated their opponent.
Biggest takeaways from the match:
- Creative risk pays off – Zvezda’s change in formation confused the French side
- Nemanja will probably never change, and the French journalists love to hate him
- Don’t ever underestimate your opponent!!! Fun fact – France has only one more Champions League trophy than Serbia (they have two)
Let’s see what happens next Thursday at the famous Marakana in Belgrade. My bet is that Giroud won’t start from the bench this time.