Crvena zvezda and Bayern Munich renew rivalry in Belgrade

Manuel Veth –

Crvena zvezda vs Bayern Munich – Tuesday, November 26, 20:00GMT/21:00CET – Marakana, Belgrade, Serbia

Crvena zvezda vs Bayern Munich will take place at the Marakana in Belgrade. (ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Crvena zvezda, however, will draw some optimism from last year’s Champions League home victory against Liverpool. Milan Pavkov, with his two goals, was the hero one year ago. The striker is unlikely to start against Bayern on Tuesday, however. Furthermore, scoring goals has been a significant issue for Crvena zvezda.

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“We have chances, but unlike the past, we don’t score a lot of goals,” Crvena zvezda head coach Vladan Milojević said to kicker this weekend. Crvena zvezda beat Nis 2-0 this weekend but even then did not finish their attacks with the necessary consequence.

Against Bayern, the Serbians need to be more efficient to be successful. “If you want to defeat German teams, you have to play and think like them,” Ljubomir Petrović, the coach of the 1991 Crvena zvezda side that beat Bayern in the European Cup said to kicker. “You always have a chance, and if everything comes together, you can collect all three points.

Bayern, however, have been a different side ever since Hansi Flick took over from Niko Kovač. The former assistant to Joachim Löw has focused on the basics to get Bayern back on the path of success.

“Hansi gives us a lot of confidence,” David Alaba told Bild on Sunday. “The coach always shows us scenes from the previous game, how we can do better and that we can stand higher as a backline.”

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The results have been impressive. Bayern beat Olympiacos 2-0, Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in the Klassiker, and then also hammered Fortuna Düsseldorf 4-0 on Saturday.

Against Crvena zvezda you can, therefore, expect another confident Bayern performance with a starting lineup that will look very much the same as in the previous games. “The defensive formation has worked very well,” Flick said this week. Hence, expect very little rotation and another positive performance by Bayern.

Crvena zvezda vs Bayern Munich – Players to look out for:

Milan Borjan #82 – Crvena zvezda

The Canadian national team keeper will expect a busy night when he faces his national team compatriot Alphonso Davies on Tuesday. Borjan has highlighted in the past that he can come up big against top European sides. On Tuesday, he will not only face his teammate Davies but in Lewandowski also the world’s best striker.

Goalkeeper Milan Borjan of Crvena Zvezda celebrates after winning the UEFA Champions League Play Off Second Leg match between Crvena Zvezda and Young Boys at stadium Rajko Mitic on August 27, 2019 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)

Alphonso Davies #19 – Bayern Munich

Even though Jérôme Boateng will be available on Tuesday, Flick is unlikely to make any changes to the defence against Crvena zvezda. That means that Alphonso Davies will be once again in the starting lineup. Although the 19-year-old winger is no left-back and still struggles visibly with positioning at times, his performances have been very good. Playing next to David Alaba has been key and Davies has made the most of his opportunity to gain playing time at one of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Alphonso Davies of Bayern Muenchen plays the ball during the UEFA Champions League group B match between Bayern Muenchen and Olympiacos FC at Allianz Arena on November 06, 2019 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Bongarts/Getty Images )

Crvena zvezda vs Bayern Munich – Match Stats

• Bayern and Paris Saint-Germain (Group A) are the only sides with maximum points after four matches. The German champions are also the competition’s top-scoring team with 15 goals, two more than group rivals Tottenham.
• This is Bayern’s 23rd UEFA Champions League group campaign, fewer only than Barcelona and Real Madrid (both 24). They have won their section 15 times, although their first-place finish in 2018/19 was their first since 2015/16.
• Bayern are unbeaten in their last 11 European away games (W8 D3), scoring at least two goals in all but the goalless draw at Liverpool last season.
• Defeat at Crvena zvezda in December 1979 is Bayern’s only loss away to a Serbian club (W2 D2), with their 2007 UEFA Cup success against the same opponents their most recent visit. Home and away, they have now won their last four games against Serbian sides, scoring three goals in each of them.

Futbolgrad Network Prediction: Crvena zvezda vs Bayern Munich – 0-3

Crvena zvezda vs Bayern Munich – Lineups

Crvena zvezda:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Borjan – Rodić, Milunović, Degenek, Gobeljić – Cañas, Jovančić – van la Parra, Marin, Garcia – Tomané

Head Coach: Vladan Milojević

Bayern Munich:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Neuer – Davies, Alaba, Javi Martínez, Pavard – Goretzka, Kimmich – Coman, Müller, Gnabry – Lewandowski

Head Coach: Hansi Flick

Manuel Veth is the owner and Editor in Chief of the Futbolgrad Network. He also works as a freelance journalist and among others, contributes to Forbes.com and Pro Soccer USA. He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in History from King’s College London, and his thesis is titled: “Selling the People’s Game: Football’s transition from Communism to Capitalism in the Soviet Union and its Successor States,” which is available HERE. Manuel has lived in Amsterdam, Kyiv, Moscow, Tbilisi, London, and currently splits his time between Victoria, BC, and Munich, Germany.  Follow Manuel on Twitter @ManuelVeth.