Crvena zvezda vs Man City facts

Crvena zvezda round off their UEFA Champions League campaign at home to holders and Group G winners Manchester City.

Both sides recorded decisive results of differing types on Matchday 5. City, already through to the round of 16, came from two goals down at half-time at home to fellow knockout qualifiers Leipzig to win 3-2 and seal top spot in the section.

Crvena zvezda, meanwhile, went down 2-0 at Young Boys to end their hopes of finishing third in the section ahead of the Swiss side. This is therefore their final European game of the season.

Previous meetings

City's first Champions League game as holders got off to a shaky start as Osman Bukari gave Crvena zvezda a 45th-minute lead at the City of Manchester Stadium on 19 September but Julián Álvarez levelled two minutes into the second period and put the home side in front on the hour, Rodri sealing the win with a third 17 minutes from time.

Form guide

Crvena zvezda

Record vs English clubs: W7 D6 L10 F21 A36
Home record vs English clubs: W6 D2 L3

Crvena zvezda lost away (0-5) and home (0-4) to Tottenham in the 2019/20 Champions League group stage.

The Matchday 1 defeat in Manchester made it four losses in the Serbian club's last five matches against English clubs – the exception a 2-0 defeat of Liverpool on Matchday 4 in the 2018/19 Champions League, one of their two group wins.

That is the Serbian club's only victory in their last eight matches against Premier League sides, home and away (D1 L6).

The Serbian side are making their third appearance in the Champions League group stage; they previously featured in 2018/19 and 2019/20.

Crvena zvezda have now finished fourth in their section in all three of their Champions League appearances.

Having come through qualifying in both those campaigns, this is the first time the Belgrade club have gained automatic entry to the group stage.

European Cup winners in 1991, Crvena zvezda have suffered three qualifying eliminations since the most recent of those group appearances, losing in the third qualifying round in both 2020/21 and 2021/22 before being knocked out by Maccabi Haifa in last season's play-offs (2-3 a, 2-2 h).

Miloš Milojević's side subsequently finished bottom of Europa League Group H despite home wins against both Ferencváros (4-1) and Trabzonspor (2-1), their only points in a section that also included Monaco.

This season the Serbian club kicked off with the 3-1 defeat at Manchester City before following a 2-2 draw at home to Young Boys with another 3-1 loss, this time at Leipzig. They then lost 2-1 to the German club in Belgrade on Matchday 4 before their hopes were ended by the 2-0 loss in Switzerland last time out.

Crvena zvezda won two of their three fixtures in Belgrade in last season's Europa League group stage, the Matchday 4 loss to Leipzig only their third defeat in their last 19 home European matches (W11 D5).

The Red-Whites won one home game in each of their previous Champions League group appearances; their record otherwise is D2 L4.

The club won a 34th league title, and a sixth in succession, in 2022/23, finishing 22 points ahead of runners-up TSC Bačka Topola. They also won the Serbian Cup for the third year in a row, defeating Čukarički 2-1 in the final.

Milojević departed at the end of the season, Maccabi Haifa coach Barak Bakhar joining as his replacement on 1 June.

Manchester City

Matchday 1 was City's first game against a Serbian team.

This is City's 13th successive Champions League group appearance; they have featured every season since 2011/12 and have now reached the knockout stages in each of the last 11 campaigns.

Pep Guardiola's side have also now won their Champions League group for seven successive seasons.

City won the Champions League for the first time in 2022/23, beating Inter 1-0 in the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul thanks to a second-half goal from Rodri. They had finished top of Group G before knockout wins against Leipzig (1-1 a, 7-0 h), Bayern (3-0 h, 1-1 a) and holders Real Madrid (1-1 a, 4-0 h).

The final victory brought Guardiola level with Zinédine Zidane and Bob Paisley with three European Cup wins as a coach in total. Only Carlo Ancelotti has more with four.

Guardiola, a winner with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, also became the sixth coach to lift the European Cup with two different clubs.

Erling Haaland was the top scorer in the competition with 12 goals. Midfielder Rodri was selected as Player of the Season.

The Cityzens also won the Premier League and the FA Cup in 2022/23, making them England's first treble winners since Manchester United in 1998/99. They became the tenth European team to win the treble and the first since Bayern in 2020.

City have already claimed European silverware this season, beating Sevilla 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Piraeus on 16 August to win the UEFA Super Cup for the first time. The Premier League side were the 25th team to lift the trophy and the sixth from England, Guardiola becoming the first coach to triumph with three different clubs.

In this season's Champions League, City came from behind to beat Crvena zvezda 3-1 at home on Matchday 1 before winning by the same scoreline in Leipzig. They next beat Young Boys 3-1 away and 3-0 at home and then sealed first place with their comeback win against the German team.

The Cityzens have won 17 of their last 31 away European matches (D9 L5), although they had drawn five in a row, including three in succession 1-1, before this season's victory at Leipzig.

City have lost only two of their last 34 Champions League group stage matches (W26 D6).

The Manchester club have not lost a European game since a 3-1 extra-time defeat at Real Madrid in the 2021/22 semi-final second leg – the 19-game unbeaten run since has surpassed West Ham's previous English record of 17.

Links and trivia

Crvena zvezda captain Aleksandar Dragović spent 2017/18 on loan at Leicester in England. His side lost 4-3 on penalties at home to City after a 1-1 draw in the English League Cup quarter-finals, while he played 90 minutes of a 5-1 Premier League loss at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Dragović scored an 88th-minute winner past City's reserve goalkeeper Stefan Ortega Moreno in Bayer Leverkusen's 2-1 Bundesliga victory at Arminia Bielefeld on 21 November 2020.

Haaland scored twice in Dortmund's 3-1 win against Dragović's Leverkusen on 22 May 2021; it was the latter's last appearance for the German club.

Marko Stamenić was in the Copenhagen side beaten 5-0 at City on Matchday 3 of last season's Champions League; he played 89 minutes of the subsequent goalless draw in the Danish capital.

On 12 October Vladimir Lučić scored Serbia's only goal in a 9-1 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying defeat in England; Rico Lewis set up the home side's fifth goal while Stefan Mitrović was also in the Serbia line-up.

Lučić, Mitrović and substitute Uroš Kabić all featured in Serbia's 3-0 home loss in the reverse fixture on 18 November.

Latest news

Crvena zvezda

Defeat at Manchester City on Matchday 1 was Crvena zvezda's third loss in four games in all competitions (W1); they have suffered only three defeats in 16 games since (W11 D2), all in the Champions League – against Leipzig on Matchdays 3 and 4 and Young Boys on Matchday 5.

The Serbian champions have won nine of their last ten league games, the exception a 1-1 home draw against TSC Bačka Topola on 1 November.

On Saturday Crvena zvezda won 3-1 at home to Mladost Lučani, Aleksandar Katai scoring for the second game in succession, his second league goal of the season. In-Beom Hwang was also on target, his first goal in 2023/24.

The 18-year-old Jovan Mijatović came off the bench to score, his fifth league goal this season equalling his total on loan at Grafičar in 2022/23.

The Belgrade club were 5-0 winners at home to Radnički Niš in the Serbian Cup round of 16 on 6 December, all the goals coming in the first half.

Nikola Knežević and Cherif Ndiaye were both on target for the second successive cup game with Vladimir Lučić scoring his first club goal since 30 July and Katai and Jean-Philippe Krasso also on the scoresheet.

Crvena zvezda were 1-0 winners at Napredak on 3 December thanks to Peter Olayinka's first league goal since 28 October and his sixth of the season.

On 25 November two Osman Bukari goals earned a 2-1 victory at Vojvodina; they are his only goals since scoring against Young Boys on Matchday 2.

Katai, who scored 17 league goals last season, opened his account for 2023/24 as a substitute against TSC only for the visitors to equalise late on. His goal on Saturday was his second of the campaign.

Crvena zvezda have managed five clean sheets in their 17 league games this season, although only two in the last 13.

The Serbian champions have picked up 43 points after 17 league games, four less than at the same stage of 2022/23.

Nine players have scored Crvena zvezda's last 14 league goals, with only Bukari, Katai, Olayinka and Mijatović managing more than one.

The Belgrade club went down 2-1 at Čukarički on 16 September. That was their second league defeat of the season, the other a 3-2 loss at Voždovac on 26 August that ended Crvena zvezda's 65-match unbeaten run in the Serbian Super League (W56 D9). Their previous loss was a 2-1 reverse at Radnik Surdulica on 27 October 2021.

Crvena zvezda's two league defeats in 16 games in 2023/24 is as many as in their previous 120 matches.

Crvena zvezda have scored at least twice in 16 of their 24 matches in all competitions this season.

Manchester City

City's record in this season's Premier League is W10 D3 L3. They recorded their first victory in five matches on Sunday, coming from behind to win 2-1 at Luton.

That was City's second away Premier League win this season after conceding the first goal, more than in 2021/22 (one win) and 2022/23 (zero) combined.

Bernardo Silva equalised with his fourth league goal of the campaign, equalling his 2022/23 total, before Jack Grealish got the winner with his second goal in as many Premier League appearances.

That game was the third successive Premier League fixture in which City had conceded the first goal, for the first time since November 2019.

A 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on 6 December made it four league games without a win – City's longest run without a victory since March-April 2017.

City managed only two shots at Villa – the lowest total ever for a Pep Guardiola side in a league game.

The English champions had drawn their three previous games, conceding late equalisers at Chelsea on 12 November (4-4) and at home to Liverpool on 25 November (1-1) and Tottenham on 3 December (3-3).

The draw against Liverpool ended City's 23-match winning home run in all competitions, one short of Sunderland's English record set between December 1890 and April 1892. It was the first match at the City of Manchester Stadium they had failed to win since a 1-1 draw against Everton on 31 December 2022.

Erling Haaland gave City the lead against Liverpool with his 50th Premier League goal in his 48th game in the competition, smashing the 65-game mark of the previous record holder Andy Cole.

The Norwegian has 11 goals in his last ten City appearances and had scored in four successive games – six goals in all – before drawing a blank against Tottenham.

Haaland, who set a new Premier League record of 36 goals in 2022/23, already has 14 to his name this season – three more than any other player.

A five-game winning run in all competitions was ended by the remarkable 4-4 draw at Chelsea on 12 November, a game in which City led three times.

On 4 November City recorded their biggest win of the season, defeating Bournemouth 6-1 at the City of Manchester Stadium. It was the 12th time they had scored six or more goals in a Premier League match under Guardiola.

Jérémy Doku, who scored City's first goal against Bournemouth, also became only the eighth player to provide four assists in a Premier League match.

Guardiola's side suffered their first league defeat of the season on 30 September, losing 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers. They were also beaten in their next, 1-0 at Arsenal on 8 October – the first time they had lost successive Premier League games since December 2018.

On 27 September City lost 1-0 at Newcastle in the English League Cup third round.

City kicked off the season by losing 4-1 on penalties to Arsenal after a 1-1 draw in the FA Community Shield at Wembley on 6 August. It was their 15th appearance in the match and their ninth defeat – and a third in a row.

Haaland sat out Sunday's win with a foot injury.

Doku went off with a knock against Tottenham and has missed the last two games.

Kevin De Bruyne has not played since suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury in a 2-0 win at Burnley in City's first Premier League game of the season on 11 August.

Oscar Bobb scored his first goal for Norway in a 2-0 friendly win at home to the Faroe Islands on 16 November. He had also set up the first goal.

Rico Lewis made his England debut in a 1-1 EURO 2024 qualifying draw away to North Macedonia on 20 November.

On 31 August Haaland was named the UEFA Men's Player of the Year at the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco. Guardiola took the coach's award.

On 30 October Haaland finished as runner-up to Lionel Messi in voting for the 2023 Ballon d'Or. De Bruyne was fourth, Rodri fifth, Julián Álvarez seventh and Bernardo Silva ninth.