Zvezda's campaign for the fourth Cup in a row

Zvezda experienced its last defeat in the most massive competition in our country on June 10, 2020. Since then, we have gone 15 games in the Cup without defeat - we have achieved 12 wins and three draws, after which we were better in penalty shootouts. The first win in a row was achieved on November 16, 2020, and after a turnaround, Zvezda was better than Zlatibor at the Maracana with a score of 4:2. This was followed by a visit to Rad and another reversal - 1:2. In the quarter finals of 2020/21, we met IMT, then a participant of the First League of Serbia, and recorded a routine victory - 3:0. The last step before the final was the Radnik team from Surdulica, which we met at the "Rajko Mitić" stadium and won with 2:1. In the grand final, we played a game against the black and whites at home, and after 120 minutes without goals, the penalty shootout began. Milan Rodić, Radovan Pankov, Nikola Krstović and Veljko Nikolić were accurate for Zvezda, while the hero was Milan Borjan, who tamed two penalties for the final 4:3. This was the first Cup that Red Star won since 2012, i.e. the first double crown since 2007.

We opened the 2021/22 cup competition with a 0:1 victory in Inđija in the round of 16. The eighth brought us a new penalty series, considering that the match at the Maracana against Radnički from Niš ended without a goal. Once again, the hero was our captain at the time - Milan Borjan, who tamed as many as four penalties from Nišlijem, while Katai, Ivanić and Kanga scored for us. In the quarter-finals, we met TSC at the "Rajko Mitić" stadium and celebrated with 4:0, and in the last hurdle before the final, we outclassed Novi Pazar with 8:0, also on the home field. The final brought Red Star and Partizan together again, for the second year in a row. Dejan Stanković's team gave us a great football performance, and Aleksandar Katai proved that he is one of the best football players of our club in the 21st century. The result after 90 minutes of play was 2:1, while Zvezda's Magico was the double scorer, scoring two beautiful goals for the second double crown in a row.

Crvena zvezda started the Serbian Cup last season on September 29, 2022, when they visited the home team Mačva in Šabac in the round of 16 of the most massive domestic competition and won 0:2. The round of 16 and another visit to the Premier League followed, and we were welcomed by the Radnicki team from Sremska Mitrovica on March 15, and in a by no means easy game, Zvezda won with a score of 1:3 after a reversal. In the quarter-finals of the Serbian Cup, the red and whites hosted Napredka in Kruševac on May 3, a day after the great tragedies that befell our country. The atmosphere at the "Mladost" stadium was atypical, because the most ardent fans of our club did not want to attend the match out of respect for the families of the victims. After 90 minutes of football, there were no goals, so penalty kicks were taken. In the penalty series, the score was 2:4 in favor of our team, and Marko Rakonjac, Irakli Azarov, Jovan Mijatović and Osman Bukari were accurate from the penalty spot, while the hero was again Milan Borjan with two saved penalties.

The semi-finals of the national cup brought us a meeting between the leader and the second-placed team in the Serbian Super League table at that moment, and Red Star was a guest again, as in the previous matches last season, while this time the host was TSC in Bačka Topola, on May 17. . The final score after 90 minutes of football was 0:3 in favor of our team, which for the third time in a row found itself in the final of the most massive domestic competition. Crvena zvezda hosted the final for the first time in the Cup in the 2022/23 season, when they welcomed Čukarički on May 25 of this year. We watched a dramatic game in which the visiting team was the first to take the lead, but Miloš Milojević's team showed why they were the best in their country and through the hero - Aleksandar Pešić, they achieved a turnaround (2:1) and for the third time in a row decorated with the cup of the Serbian Cup.

No one has ever won three consecutive double crowns before our club, and therefore Crvena zvezda has a new historic opportunity to repeat this success for the fourth consecutive time, and the beginning of the defense of the Serbian Cup starts tomorrow at 3 pm in Kruševac when we will host Trialo.