Crvena Zvezda – Lille

In Belgrade, the guests from France will not be able to achieve victory.

Red Star has defended Serbia's honour in the Champions League in several past seasons. European competitions for top clubs from not-so-footballing countries have always been a special indicator of success. For many years, the Belgrade club has not noticed opponents on the national arena, which is why Champions League matches have always played a major role for its players and fans. This season, Red Star is without the elite European tournament. The Serbian team reached the last stage of qualification, where they competed against Paphos as the favourites. However, this year's debutant of the main stage of the Champions League knocked the Serbians out of the way and went on to play against Bayern Munich and other top clubs in Europe. Red Star earned the right to compete in the Europa League, where they have yet to boast of victories. Lille also had ambitions to participate in the Champions League, from which they exited only at the playoff stage last season. However, the 'Dogs' could not achieve the right to participate in Europe's elite competition, going to the second-tier tournament instead. During the off-season, the team parted ways with several important players, so they were not among the candidates for triumph in the Europa League. Meanwhile, the club's results leave a mixed impression. Bookmakers have designated the guests as the favourites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 2.27 for their victory. The last couple of weeks have been the most unsuccessful for Red Star since the start of the season. After losing in the previous round of the Europa League, the Belgrade team has failed to win any of their three matches in the Serbian Superliga, where they are the dominant champions. Undoubtedly, the team will approach the upcoming match in a special way. In the group stage, Red Star has already played one home match, which ended in a draw with Celtic. Now the hosts are expected to achieve nothing less than victory, which could be their first in the Europa League, improving the poor tournament position of the Serbian champion. Importantly, in three days, Lille will play in Strasbourg against the significantly improved Ligue 1 club of the same name over the past year. The hosts' motivation, the importance of European competitions for them, and the rotation of the guests' squad will lead to a successful outcome for the Serbs.