Everything you need to know before the 174th eternal derby

The eternal derby is one of the most popular and massive rivalries in the football world, and so far throughout history, as many as 173 matches have been played between Red Star and our biggest rival. The first match between these two teams dates back to 1947, to be more precise - January 5, 1947, and that derby is special because it was played at a temperature of minus 19 degrees. However, even that did not prevent our footballers from recording their first, historic victory, with a score of 3:4. The last duel between the players in red and white and black and white jerseys was played a little more than five months ago, more precisely - on April 20, 2024, and the winner was the same as in the first derby - Crvena zvezda, with a score of 3:2. The cup game was played just four days later, and our team won again (2:0), but only league games are included in the balance sheet of eternal derbies.

The statistical parameters also reflect the dominance of our team. Namely, the total score of Crvena Zvezda is 68 wins, 57 draws, with 48 wins by rivals, and the goal difference is 240 goals scored, with 205 goals conceded. The best scorers in the red and white jersey in the eternal derby are Bora Kostić and Dragan Džajić with nine goals each. They are also the only two Zvezda players who managed to score two goals from free kicks in the eternal derbies. The current head of the youth team - Nenad Milijaš and the first team player and fan's favorite - Aleksandar Katai were accurate twice from the penalty spot. Ratomir Dujković is the only goalkeeper who saved two penalties in the matches of the biggest Serbian rivals. Miljan Miljanić, who led the red and whites in as many as 15 derbies, sat on the bench the most times as the head of the coaching staff.

The most convincing victory of our team was in the 43rd eternal derby, which was played on November 17, 1968 at the "Rajko Mitić" stadium. Miljan Miljanić's team defeated the opponent with a score of 6:1, and the goals for Crvena zvezda were scored by Dragan Džajić, Miroslav Pavlović, Zoran Antonijević, while Stevan Ostojić scored a hat-trick. What is interesting is that the red and whites celebrated in the first derby that had a modern television broadcast. More precisely, it was the 37th eternal derby, played on December 5, 1965 at the "JNA" stadium, and Zvezda won with a score of 1:2. The match between the two rivals with the highest attendance recorded was the 59th eternal derby, played on November 7, 1976, in front of slightly more than 90,000 fans, who helped the red and whites to a 1:0 victory at the "Maracana". .

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