An exciting first season had seen Trebor Mahtal lead Crvena zvezda to a Serbian league and cup double and only miss out on Europa League glory via a penalty shootout. But the Zambian manager had his eyes set on a rebuild over the summer of 2034.
That plan was boosted by bringing in £8m for the likes of Andrson Duarte, Olivier Boscagli and András Németh, giving him £31m to spend. Mahtal replaced Duarte by signing Brazilian/Czech striker Gabriel for a Serbian national record £13m from Banik Ostrava and his backup Bonner Anduquia for £500k from Millonarios. He also brought in 18-year-old winger Adam Horvat for £800k from Trencin and defender Jonathan Gold on a free from Chelsea. He also promoted exciting wingers Ivan Tosic and Milos Milenkovic. With the squad reshaped, Mahtal moved to an asymmetric 4-3-3 approach, which will require young midfielder Vladan Mitrovic to retrain as a holding midfielder.
Dropping Into The Europa League Again
Crvena zvezda again entered the Champions League qualifiers, starting by easing past Irish side Bohemians 6-2 led by Gabriel’s first two goals. The striker scored again in a 1-1 at Hajduk but they suffered a 2-1 defeat at home. That took them into the Europa League playoff, in which star man Luka Bogic scored twice to secure a 2-1 win at U Cluj before a 3-0 home win.
The league phase began with a chastening 4-2 defeat at Galatasaray before Gabriel’s double downed Slavia Praha 2-1 and Anduquia’s late goal should have earned a win over Roma, only to immediately concede an equaliser. But Gabriel nicked a 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao and midfielder Ilija Tadic’s brace earned a 2-2 at Young Boys. Then they thrashed Stal Mielec 4-1 and AGF 3-0 to qualify in 4th place.
The last 16 teed up a tasty clash as Crvena zvezna took on Beograd rivals Partizan. They lost 2-1 away, with Gabriel’s injury-time consolation proving crucial as Bogic’s superb first-half brace turned the tie around. Partizan scored their first shot from a free kick, Gabriel restored the lead before Partizan scored another set piece. But Bogic decided it as he arrived late in the area to complete his hat trick.
Red Star got the toughest quarter-final tie against Roma. They stemmed early pressure in the first half and should have nicked it as Gabriel and Tadic missed sitters. The second leg started well as Tosic nicked the ball from a goal kick and sent Gabriel in to score. It got better on the verge of half time as an excellent passing move ended up at the feet of Tadic, who turned and curled into the bottom corner from 25 yards. And they were in dreamland two minutes after the break as Bogic passed to Tosic, who beat his man and smashed it into the bottom corner to make it three goals from three shots. Roma threw everything at them and got two goals back then, in the 93rd minute, had a header from a corner hit the post and cleared off the line by Gold. But Red Star just about held on for another famous European win!
That teed up a clash with Eintracht Frankfurt while Austria Wien faced Lille in the other semi. The home leg was first again and Red Star edged the first half before Gold sent a hopeful ball down the line that Tosic absolutely spanked into the top corner. Equally good was Gabriel doubling the lead with a wonderful backpost header from left back Alexandru Prepelita’s floated cross. Mahtal went to kill the game off but the brilliant Tosic had other ideas as he scored an even better goal, picking the ball up 30 yards out, turning and firing past a beleaguered goalkeeper. And a 3-2 loss in Germany saw Red Star into consecutive Europa League Finals!
Exciting Serbian Title Defence
Serbia remained second favourites for Mozzart Bet Super liga with their 2/1 odds only bettered by Partizan’s 6/5. The new season began by dominating Vrsac by 25 shots to three but only scoring late on through Tadic. Gabriel scored twice on his league debut in a 4-1 thumping of OFK and they enjoyed a strong start, winning eight of the first ten but suffered defeats at early pacesetters Vojvodina and Cukaicki. They also drew at Partizan, who led by a point after losing once heading into the winter break.
Gabriel hit form in the new year, including a hat trick in a 5-0 win at Zemu and a winner at TSC. A rare goal by centre back Veljko Milosavljevic earned a 1-0 win over Partizan, which took Red Star top in late February. But they went into the seven-game Final Phase tied on 77 points with Partizan, who’d only conceded 13 in 30. The Final Phase began with a massive game at home to Partizan three days after the Roma second leg. They fought through tiredness to start well as Gold headed home a corner. Partizan levelled only for Gabriel to immediately tap home a crucial winner. Bogic earned a 1-1 at 3rd-place Cukaricki while Partizan won to make the gap one point with five games remaining.
A heavily rotated side lost 1-0 at home to Vojvodina but Partizan also lost at home to Cukaricki. They got back on track as Gabriel inspired them to a week of wins with two goals in a 4-0 over Radnik and four goals in a 5-3 at TSC before a rotated team won 2-0 at Spartak to keep them three points clear going into the final day. An exhausted Red Star hosted Vodzovac while Partizan entertained Spartak. Partizan scored early to pile the pressure on while Red Star struggled to get going, but did eventually score as Tadic finished off a smart short corner move. Vozdovac scored a very dubious penalty and a goal that looked well offside but that man Tadic delivered again to earn a 2-2 that secured another league title!
Red Star won the league by one point from Partizan, finishing on 91 points after 29 wins, 4 draws and 4 defeats, scoring 89 and conceding 34. Partizan will be gutted to miss out on the title with 90 points, 97 goals and conceding just 20! Gabriel was the top scorer with 26 in 33 and Tadic led the assists with 15.
Ten days later, Red Star had a chance at a domestic triple-double as a team of backup 11s cruised into the Kup Srbije Final against Javor, who won a two-legged relegation playoff after extra time between the end of the season and the final. Their side was knackered and didn’t help themselves by scoring an own goal from Tosic’s cross inside four minutes. Tosic teed up Tadic to double the lead from 25 yards on 14 minutes and a dominant performance was crowned by Gabriel’s 40th and 41st goals of the season, the second of which was superbly assisted by debutant midfielder Goran Jovanovic.
Seeking Europa League Final Redemption
12 months on from penalty heartbreak against Anderlecht, Crvena zvezda were back in the Europa League Final. This time, they travelled to Slaski stadium in Chorzow, Poland, to take on Lille three days after Mahtal’s 50th birthday. He had no injury concerns so lined up:
Miladinovic; Gold, Milosavljevic, Dénes, Prepelita; Milosevic, Bogic; Tosc, Tadic, Horvat; Gabriel
Subs: Anduquia, Trajkovic, Duric, Henrique, Pantovic, Milenkovic, Colic, Veselinovic, Skocic, Vagiannidis, Popovic, Zivic
Crvena zvezda started brightly as Tosic headed over and had eight shots to none in the opening 25 minutes. But the ref awarded a penalty for a clear Ethan Mbappé dive – only for Jovan Miladinvoc to deliver justice by saving Jonathan David’s effort. Nothing happened after half time and it drifted to extra time, where even less happened. So that meant, again, it was going to penalties. The shootout started well as Miladinovic saved the opening kick, only for Milivojevic to miss Red Star’s second. Both teams continued to score until Miladinovic saved Lille’s 10th. That gave centre back Roland Dénes the chance to be an unlikely hero… and he smashed it into the top corner for a 9-8 penalties victory.
Crvena zvezda were Europa League Champions!
Bogic won the Europa League Golden Boot with 11 goals in 17 games, followed by Gabriel with 10 in 17, slightly harshly came 3rd in the competition’s Player of the Season but won Young Player of the Season.
Plenty Of Promise At Red Star
Red Star had achieved a magnificent treble-winning season led by a mass of exciting youngsters. Indeed, the promise of Red Star’s young players was proven by the academy being rated the fourth-best in the world only behind Man City, Barcelona and LAFC. Realistically, it’ll be hard to keep hold of these starlets with Tosic wanted by Newcastle and PSG and Gabriel wanted by Saudi sides.
Gabriel repaid his transfer fee with 41 in 54 followed by Bogic (22), Tadic (16), Tosic (11) and Anduquia (9). The superb Tadic also got 25 assists followed by Tosic (22), Horvat (14) and Bogic (13).
Mahtal’s contract expired in the summer of 2034 and, while he was loving managing Crvena zvezda, he felt he’d achieved all he could at the club. So, with a heavy heart, he decided to leave the club to go looking for another new challenge on his EuroTrip. Mahtal departs Red Star after two seasons and 122 games, of which he won 87, drew 16 and lost 19, scoring 274 and conceding 115.
Where in Europe would Mahtal’s eighth club take him? Join us on Wednesday to find out!
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