After 3:0 in Belgrade, Crvena Zvezda conceded five goals in Pilsen and remained without the Europa League, while Partizan failed to make up for the loss from Madrid. Did Zvezda itself contribute to the new European debacle with its sports decisions and who should bear the responsibility for it
Belgrade Eternal Red Star i Partizan they were eliminated from the Europa League, i.e. the League of Conferences. Serbia will again, like last year, have only one representative in the league phase of European competitions.
The red and white experienced a new debacle as the Czech Victoria Plzeň beat them 5:1 in the second leg and overturned the 3:0 from the first match. The black and whites beat the Spanish Getafe 2:1, but not enough to advance.
After a 3:0 victory in Belgrade and a win at the Czech club, it seemed that Zvezda was about to do its job in Pilsen, but then a complete blackout happened. A 5:1 defeat.
Zvezda players scored three penalties in 120 minutes in Pilsen, received a red card and conceded two goals from the box. These are indicators of indiscipline and very bad decision-making.
All three penalties were extremely naive, and there could have been more because the stoppers of the Belgrade club were constantly struggling and falling behind the strikers of Victoria. Usman Bukari hit a player of the home team and earned a red card, while goals were conceded by players being left alone in the immediate vicinity of the goal.
After the defeat by Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Champions League qualifiers, coach Dejan Stanković took responsibility and resigned. His place was taken by the Spaniard Albert Rijera, who in the first two matches on the bench defeated Viktoria Plzen and Čukarički with a total score of 7:0. It seemed that the team began to function.
At the same time, the club made decisions that directly affected the composition of the team before the most important games of the season.
Zvezda sold Nair Tirkizian to Olympiakos for six million euros, and then Yong Woo Seol to Augsburg for 3,8 million. Both were standard defenders, and after their departure, Rijera was condemned to a system with three players in the last line.
Selling two starters just before the playoffs of a European competition can be understandable from a financial perspective. On the sports side, the timing is unreasonable.
This was seen in Pilsen. The defense was disastrous, the stoppers were late, made naive fouls, and Zvezda allowed the opponent to score three penalties in 120 minutes. Selling players was necessary, but the decision to weaken the team just before the decisive games is part of the responsibility for what happened.
After the relegation from Hapoel Be'er Sheva, the responsibility was borne by the coach. Now the issue of responsibility would have to be broader.
The sports sector, i.e. Marko Marin and Mitar Mrkela, is responsible for the club's sports operations and the composition of the team. Therefore, it is legitimate to ask who made the decision to sell two standard defenders at the very moment when the season is decided in several European games.
But the responsibility does not end there.
Zvezda CEO Zvezdan Terzić is part of this story. He himself said immodestly that he takes credit for the club's successes, as well as responsibility for failures.
The management of Zvezda projected playing the Champions League, which would bring in more than 30 million euros, the Europa League around 10 million. Instead, the club will earn a fixed 3,17 million euros from the placement in the Conference League, with bonuses for results that are incomparably smaller.
In front of a full stadium in Humska, Partizan was close to equalizing the overall result. The black and whites managed to win 2:1, but it was not enough after the 3:1 defeat in Madrid.
Although Partizan registered five wins and only one loss in six games in this year's qualifiers, this year they will also be without a European autumn, which has not happened since 2023.
After the defeat in Madrid, Partizan decided to sell its best player. Ognjen Ugrešić was sold to the Greek PAOK for eight million euros. It is to be expected that the black and whites will still sell because they have to fill holes in the club's budget, due to not being placed in the league part of European competitions.
The management of Partizan and the head of the professional staff Saša Ilić announced at the beginning of the week after the relegation from Mladost from Lucan that they will to resign to functions, after the match with Getafe.
During the game on Thursday, the fans from the southern stand supported the management and the coach with the banner "To the coaching staff and the management that defends the club's name, unreserved support of the southern stand".
After the match, Saša Ilić did not want to talk about his resignation, while Danko Lazović waited for the end of the game in tears.
After Partizan was eliminated, Serbia was left with only one representative in European competitions. Only Red Star welcomed the European autumn again.
Vojvodina and Železničar from Pancevo were eliminated earlier during the qualifications. The Novi Sad players were defeated by the Hungarian Ferencvaros in the Europa League, while they were eliminated from the Conference League by the Dutch Ajax. On the other hand, Pančevci were eliminated from their first rival in the Conference League, Portuguese Braga.
Serbia is thus sliding lower and lower in the UEFA ranking. It is currently 30th in the league in terms of coefficient. Next year, Serbia will be left without one of the best results in Europe in the last decade, and if it has such a poor result of the clubs again, it may fall to 33rd place, with the potential for the Kosovo league to overtake it.
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