Marakana has incredible power.

Throughout history, the red and whites have experienced this situation many times, and the first of many is related to the year 1970 and the meeting with Ujpest, in the first round of the European Champions Cup. After a 0:2 defeat away from home, our team defeated the Hungarian club convincingly 4:0 in a full stadium, and Zoran Filipović (2), Stevan Ostojić and Dragan Džajić scored once each.

Already in the following season, an identical sequence of events was seen in the duel against Carl Zeiss. The German team came with a goal advantage at the Maracana (3:2), but in the second leg they were cleaned with four goals in the net. Again, the actors were Stevan Ostojić and Zoran Filipović, who entered the list of scorers, while Milovan Đorić and Stanislav Karasi were also accurate.

We waited three years for the next double match like this, and then it was the turn of the Greek Paok. After the minimal triumph of the black and whites in Athens, our players showed the right reaction and celebrated in the second game in an extremely routine manner. Vladimir Petrović Pižon canceled the rival's goal from the first game, while Dule Savić was relentless in overtime and set the final outcome of the match - 2:0.

In the 1974/75 season, our club was defeated by the great Real Madrid. The Spanish team won 2:0 at the Santiago Bernabeu, and then disappeared in the Maracana. Dragan Džajić sent 100,000 red and white fans into a trance in the 36th minute of the game, while Vladmir Petrović Pižon completely brought Zvezda back into the game in the 55th minute. Penalties followed, and after the defense of Ognjen Petrović Santiljna, an unprecedented celebration began at our stadium.

In the first round of the UEFA Cup for the 1976/77 season, the red and whites were defeated by Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the opening game - 1:2. However, in the second leg, absolute dominance was seen and the victory was 4:1. Although the Bulgarians took the lead in Belgrade, there was a great reaction from Gojko Zec's team. Zoran Filipović scored twice, while Vladislav Bogićević and Srboljub Stamenković scored once each.

Two seasons later saw one of the biggest turnarounds in our history. Dynamo from Berlin convincingly defeated our footballers in the German capital with a score of 5:2. However, the red and whites did not give up and with the identical result as against Lokomotiva, they saw off Dinamo with four goals in the net. Zdravko Borovnica was the player of the match with two scored goals, and Dule Savić and Miloš Šestić also entered the list of scorers.

In 1980, the draw took us to Switzerland and a double match with Basel. The rival celebrated with a minimal victory, but the rematch at the Maracana again showed that it is an impregnable fortress. Only 17 minutes were enough for the red and whites, and the scorers were Srebrenko Repćić and Rajko Janjanin.

Already the following year, the Czech Banjik triumphed with a score of 3:1. However, the red and whites won with a convincing 3:0, and Milko Đurovski, Dušan Savić and Vladimir Petrović Pižon were fatal for the visitors.

For a long time, Red Star players did not face such an outcome, until the 1996/97 season and the famous double match with Kaiserslautern. The Germans recorded a 1:0 triumph, while in the second leg they cleaned up the German giants with a convincing victory. In front of a packed Maracana, the duel was marked by the promising Dejan Stanković with two goals. After him, Zoran Njeguš and Miodrag Pantelić also scored.

Finnish Helsinki came to Belgrade in 1997 with a goal advantage created at home, but the Red Star players, carried by the roar from the stands of Marakana, routinely came to an end with the rival and triumphed with 3:0. Once again, Dejan Stankvoić was the killer of the European rival with two goals, while Zoran Njeguš was once again in the list of scorers.

Delije waited for the next excitement of this type until 2009, when Dejan Lekić found his place in Zvezda's history. Dinamo Tbilisi routinely won the first match (2:0), and after the aforementioned striker's own goal, it seemed that everything fell apart. Nevertheless, Zvezda's nine continued, and with a hat trick paved the way for the red and whites to the next round. Besides him, Kada and Slavko Perović hit the net.

Newer generations will surely remember the game against Krasnodar, which brought the red and white back to the group stage of European competitions. Vladan Milojević's men were defeated in Russia with a score of 3:2, while in Belgrade they created a positive result with a goal by Nemanja Radonjić. And then, Gelor Kanga's rocket shot early in the second half to the delirium and general celebration of a packed Maracana and a goal that put our club back where it belongs.

The last meeting like this was recorded in 2021 when Kairat defeated Dejan Stanković's team, and then in the second leg, our players were merciless and scored five goals against their rival. The double scorer was Aleksandar Katai, and Louis Dioni, Filippo Falco and Mirko Ivanić also scored.

All these data show how much of a wind at the Maracana's back it gives to those players who come to the stadium at that moment, and there is no doubt that the packed stands will welcome Bode Glimt with the goal of another placement in the Champions League.

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