The year 1991 is embroidered in the history of Crvena zvezda with a golden thread! That’s when Crvena zvezda triumphed in the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, becoming thus the Champion of Europe and the World, which is the greatest success our football has ever achieved! Of course, Crvena zvezda was also the Champion of Yugoslavia in 1991.
- A European Cup was exactly what Crvena zvezda was missing. Now that we’ve got it, I guess all the people who say: “Our club is the best in the history of Yugoslavian football” are right –stated Dragan Džajić, the Crvena zvezda director at the time.
The red and white team defended the National Champion title demonstrating superiority and before the deadline. In the 32nd game in the Championship – a crushing victory over Osijek (5:1) – was when Crvena zvezda secured the 18th title four rounds before the end of the season. The 18th title was very important because it left other ex-Yugoslavian teams far behind: Partizan (11 titles), Hajduk (7), Dinamo (4), Vojvodina (2), Sarajevo (2) and Željezničar (2).
When the news came out that Ljupko Petrović was taken on as the first team coach, some people shook their heads in disbelief: was he really the expert worthy of Red? Nevertheless, everything turned out for the best. The new coach not only managed to quickly fit in with the complicated Crvena zvezda environment, but also proved his qualities in a short time. the players accepted him as a first class expert, which he confirmed to be by choosing the best tactics for the final match of the European Cup in Bari, when Crvena zvezda defeated the French team Olympique from Marseille in the penalty shootout.
Crvena zvezda players really only had two bad results in the Spring session. The first one was the defeat by Proleter at Marakana (1:2), and the other one was the failure in the National Cup final against Hajduk at JNA stadium. The defeat by Proleter was the first to take place at Marakana in the Championship ever since September 1987, when Rijeka defeated our team 3:2. Darko Pančev was the Championship’s best scorer for the third time (the second time in Crvena zvezda’s uniform, and once while playing for Vardar) – he scored 34 goals. He also won the Golden Boot as the best European scorer and he surpassed Slobodan Santrač’s record (he had scored 33 goals for the OFK Beograd team during the 197271973 season).
- The records weren’t our main target. We wanted to end the season as the best Yugoslavian and now also European club. By doing so, we have pleased our supporters, whom we care very much about – said Dragan Džajić.
The final rank shows how superior our most victorious club was in the early-nineties: Crvena zvezda 54, Dinamo 44, Partizan 41, Borac (Banjaluka), Proleter 35, Hajduk, Vojvodina 33...
Roster:
Đorđe Aćimović 1, Ivan Adžić 4, Enes Bešić 3, Miodrag Belodedić 34-1, Dragiša Binić 27-14, Goran Vasilijević 7, Aleksandar Ilić 1, Vladimir Jugović 32-7, Goran Jurić 8, Milić Jovanović 3-5 received goals, Dejan Joksimović 5, Vladan Lukić 4-1, Slobodan Marović 27-1, Ljubiša Milojević 8-1, Mitar Mrkela 1, Siniša Mihajlović 14-1, Ivica Momčilović 13, Ilija Najdoski 32-2, Darko Pančev 32-34, Robert Prosinečki 29-12, Duško radinović 30, Milorad Ratković 1, Duško Savić 1, Dejan Savićević 25-8, Stevan Stojanović 33-30 received goals, Vlada Stošić 35-4, Rade Tošić 11, Slaviša Čula 2, Refik Šabanadžović 26.
Coach:
Ljupko Petrović