LŠ special - Panathinaikos

On April 14, 1971, we hosted the champion of Greece, the team of Panathinaikos of Athens. In addition to the phenomenal game of the red and white team and the 4:1 victory, the atmosphere in the stands of the largest Serbian stadium and the incredible number of 93,500 spectators will also be remembered.

A beautiful atmosphere awaited the players when they stepped onto the grass of the Belgrade Maracana, when thousands of red and white flags rose into the sky and gave the players of Red Star a wind at their backs. The guests also had great support, around 20 thousand Greeks dressed in green and white colors arrived in Belgrade to support their loved ones.

The red and whites opened the game fantastically, and from the very beginning they brought the opponent to their knees, of course supported by the roar of the Maracana. Already in the 15th minute, Stevan Ostojić opened the scoring for the Greeks, and the red and whites continued to pressure the Panathinaikos team and then took a 2:0 lead in the 39th minute through Slobodan Janković. The team of Miljan Miljanić continued in the same rhythm in the second half, and in the 46th minute they took an unattainable 3:0 lead, and the scorer was again Stevan Ostojić. A glimmer of hope for the Greeks was brought by Kamaras in the 55th minute when he beat Ratomir Dujković, however, it was not enough. The epithet of the hero of this game belonged to Stevan Ostojić, which was proven in the 70th minute when he overcame the goalkeeper of the visiting team with a great header and thus achieved a hat trick.

After the end of the match, an incredible celebration followed on the streets of Belgrade, tens of thousands of star players celebrated the triumph of their beloved club.

The atmosphere from the stadium spilled over into the streets, and a red and white carnival could be seen on the boulevards of the capital. The fascinating attendance of 93,500 spectators will forever be recorded as the biggest attendance when we talk about Red Star matches in the Champions League. Many visitors to this match claim that the audience was far more than that number...