Season 1973/74 was Crvena zvezda's eight in the UEFA European Cup. The Belgrade club recorded their best result in the competition three years earlier when they reached semi-final and beat Panathinaikos 4-1 in Belgrade only to crash out after a disappointing 3-0 defeat in Athens.
When we were drawn against famous Liverpool FC, the mood among the fans weren’t overly confident with our key players yet to hit top form. But everything went right for Crvena zvezda on this day in 1973 when the Merseyside club came to Marakana. Legendary Bill Shankly brought his team featuring the likes of Kevin Keegan and expected to win, but Slobodan Janković scored an amazing free kick to set the tone for the evening and Vladislav “Bleki” Bogićević got another just after the break to set Zvezda on course to a famous victory.
Chris Lawler pulled one back for the visitors, but it’s all the Reds could do on the evening.
Zvezda proved this win was no fluke at Anfield, winning 2-1 again and beating the English club 4-2 on aggregate. That proved to be the only home defeat for the Red in Europe in the entire 20th century!
We are Crvena zvezda Belgrade. Pleased to meet you!