Zvezda got off to a winning start in Europa League with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Portuguese team SC Braga.
Ground: Rajko Mitić Stadium
Attendance: 24,671.
Goalscorers: Rodić 75, Katai 85 pen - Galeno 76
Referee: John Beaton (Scotland).
Crvena zvezda: Borjan, Gobeljić, Degenek, Dragović, Rodić, Sanogo (87 Pankov), Kanga, Ivanić, Katai (87 Srnić), Ben (39 Diony), Živković (65 Krstičić).
Substitutes not used: Popović, Gajić, Falco, Petrović, Stanić, Nikolić, Eraković.
Braga: Matheus, Tormena, Leite, Murati, Ruiz (70 Gonzales), Piazon, Paulo Oliveira, R Horta, Mineiro, Fabiano, Galeno.
Substitutes not used: Tiago Sa, Homicek, Couto, Sequera, A Horta, Cichinho, Martins, Gorbi, Moura, Bruno Rodrigues, Vitor Oliveira.
After the summer of mixed fortunes during Champions League qualifications, we earned the right to represent Serbia in the group stage of an European competition for the fifth season in a row.
Our first opponents in the Europa League group stage were Braga, our old rivals from the same competition in 2006. Back then, we draw 0-0 in Belgrade and 1-1 in Braga‘s quarry-like stadium. It was enough to warrant qualification for our team.
But in 2021 we met in the group stage and claimed an important win against a quality Primeira Liga team. Managed by the former Sheffield Wednesday boss Carlos Carvajal, the highly technical visitors arrived to our Marakana in search of a win.
Dejan Stanković set his team up perfectly well, knowing that the visitors were likely to enjoy more possession on the night. A disciplined performance from our team gave us a chance to compete for the points and make it a perfect start to yet another European adventure.
Milan Rodić was the unlikely goalscorer for out team when he directed a pinpoint header from a corner beyond Matheus and into the side-netting. It was 1-0. But our lead didn‘t last very long.
Galeno made the most of our lack of concentration in our own third and found the corner of Borjan‘s net to bring a quick equalizer to the Portuguese team.
Once again, Aleksandar Katai proved a match winner when he converted a cool penalty late on and made it 2-1 to the champions of Serbia.
It was a great night for our team and boss Dejan Stanković heaped plenty of praise on his players for their attitude, work rate and commitment that gave us the points against a strong opponent.