As AC Milan set to face Serbian side Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) this Thursday in the first leg of Europa League's round of 32, with the game taking place in the "Marakana" stadium, let's take a deep look on the Rossoneri's next opponent led by Inter Milan legend Dejan Stankovic.
Team Results
The club previously known as Red Star Belgrade is currently leading the Super Liga Srbije sitting comfortably in the first place with 9 points ahead of rivals Partizan Belgrade, as they haven't lost any game yet, accumulating a total of 59 points, through 19 wins and 2 draws.
When it comes to the Europa League, Red Star made it through the second round behind Bundesliga side Hoffenheim, in front of both Czech and Belgium clubs Slovan Liberec and KAA Gent respectively. recording 3 wins 2 draws and 1 loss in the competition's group stage.
Goalscorers & Assist Providers
For this season, Crvena Zvezda's goals were everything but one player's exclusivity, as the Serbian club's hits were shared by many forwards and midfielders, starting from Mirko Ivanic (9 goals), all the way to Diego Falcinelli (7 goals), Aleksandar Katai (7 goals), El Fardou Ben (5 goals) and the list goes on.
In fact, the same goes for the assists, since Guélor Kanga, Srdjan Spiridonovic, Mirko Ivanic, Aleksandar Katai, Veljko Nikolic and Richmond Boakye have all provided at least 3 assists for the team each.
Latest Transfers
According to Transfermarkt, the one-time Champions League winners came up with 4 new arrivals in the last winter transfer window, namely, Italian forward Filippo Falco from Lecce, Franco-Ivorian right-winger Axel Bakayoko from Inter Milan, Ivorian defensive midfielder Sékou Sanogo from Ittihad Jeddah and last but not least Serbian right-winger Slavoljub Srnic as a free agent.
Furthermore, the red-and-white club have promoted Richard Odada as well as Nikola Stankovic to the first team from their U-19's.
Apart from that, 4 players have made their return to the club coming back from loan, just to end up being immediately sent out once again, either temporarily as it has been the case for Ousman Marong, Marko Konatar, and Luka Markovic, or permanently as it was for Stefan Ficovic.
Speaking of outgoings, Crvena Zvezda haven't sold any of their pillars in January, as in addition to the above-mentioned player Ficovic, only Stefan Hajdin and Veljko Simic left the reigning champions of Serbia for good. Anyway, it is worth mentioning that the latter two have only recorded a combined 293 minutes with the club this campaign, based on the German website's data.
To sum up, Crvena Zvezda is not an opponent to underestimate by any means no matter how giant of a club you are.
Therefore, Milan's mission in Serbia could be anything but a walk in the park, especially that the opposing club has been preparing for this game properly, organizing several friendly games during the last month against the likes of Ukrainian league defending champions Shakhtar Donetsk.
