19′
7:05 p.m
Too bad for Manchester City, 0-1 by Micah Hamilton
The tour for the guests by the debutant! The 20-year-old Hamilton scores in a rip-off manner from a very acute angle to make it 1-0. Rico Lewis puts the ball to Hamilton from the center to the right side. The debutant moves into the box, eats up two opponents and slams the ball under the crossbar into the near corner. Glazer in the goal looks unhappy, but he can’t do anything with the force. City leads!
17′
7:04 p.m
Hwang looks for Ndiaye at the top with a long shot from midfield. Ortega plays along skillfully and heads the ball well outside his penalty area.
16′
7:03 p.m
Jack Grealish is back on the pitch and can continue playing.
15′
7:03 p.m
Belgrade counterattacks on the left side, but then takes too much speed out of the attack via Hwang. Nevertheless, Osman Bukari, who temporarily made it 1-0 in the first leg, can move into the box and finish. But the shot is blocked.
13′
6:59 p.m
Jack Grealish kneels on the ground and holds his left ribs. It was not clear what exactly happened. In any case, he needs medical support and is leaving the field for now.
12′
18:58
But Red Star doesn’t hide either. They always try to put their three nimble strikers in the spotlight. However, this is still hardly possible.
9′
6:55 p.m
So far the game shares are clearly going towards Manchester. Despite the many new players in the starting line-up, the guests dominate the ball. However, there are still no dangerous needle pricks in the depths.
6′
18:52
There is still a lot of sand in the gears at the Sky Blues. For the second time, the short play from the back is not successful. The balls from the center to the wing are not yet arriving reliably.
3′
6:50 p.m
Red Star starts boldly and tries to push the guests into their own half early on. But that almost blows up in the hosts’ faces. City can free themselves from the pressing and combine forward through Hamilton on the right wing. However, his cross into the box to Grealish is too imprecise.
1′
6:47 p.m
Here we go! Belgrade kicks off and the ball rolls!
6:40 p.m
The match referee, Aliyar Aghayev from Azerbaijan, leads the two teams onto the field. The stadium is filled to the brim with almost 50,000 fans. The atmosphere is already deafening. Just a cauldron.
6:25 p.m
In today’s game, the Spaniard will rotate in a few positions. And not just because his top striker Erling Haaland is out due to injury. At the press conference, the Citizens coach revealed that some players who have previously received little playing time will be playing. He won’t try any experiments, but will let those who he believes can win play. The trainer really started up the rotation machine. With Kovačić and Grealish, only two players remain in the starting lineup compared to the 2-1 win against Luton Town. Two players, Micah Hamilton and Oscar Bobb, are even making their debuts. For 20-year-old Bobb, it is the first premier league game for the Citizens, while for Hamilton it is his debut in the Sky Blues uniform. There are also three other junior boys on the bench: Grant, Alleyne and Susoho. Former Bielefeld player Stefan Ortega will guard the goal. Everyone can judge for themselves whether this team can be called a B-Elf.
6:16 p.m
Five games, five wins – the defending champions are already in the round of 16 as confident leaders in the table. Confident games against opponents, some of whom were seriously inferior, ensured an early preliminary decision in this group. So today for Pep Guardiola’s team it’s all about getting out of this group without losing a point. This would be the first time in Man City’s history. In the league, however, there is something like that that can be wormed. There was only one win in the last five games and the Sky Blues slipped to fourth place.
6:09 p.m
One last European Cup for Red Star Belgrade this season. After the disappointing 2-0 defeat against Bern on the previous match day, they didn’t even manage to qualify for the Europa League. The chances of progressing in the Champions League were slim relatively early on. Now the current leaders of the Serbian league want a conciliatory conclusion and try to take at least one win from the group phase. Red Star scored a measly point in the 2-2 draw in the first leg against the Swiss. Belgrade defender Uroš Spajić said before the match that it was a shame that nothing was at stake when his team played against the best team in the world. It’s about Red Star doing its best to make the fans feel happy. Coach Barak Bachar changes his starting eleven four times compared to the last league game: Kanga, Ndiaye, Djiga and Nedeljković replace Katai, Lučić, Mitrović (all bench) and Nikolić.
5:56 p.m
The decisions have already been made in this group G. While the men from the island are undefeated and confident group winners, RB Leipzig can be congratulated on second place. For the Serbs from Belgrade, however, their trip to Europe will be over after tonight. After the defeat against Bern on the last match day, Red Star no longer has a chance of moving away from fourth place. At the Rajko Mitić Stadium, or rather in the Serbian Marakana, Belgrade still wants a conciliatory end to the group phase. A hot atmosphere awaits the Citizens in the cauldron of Roter Stern.
A nice good evening and a warm welcome to the last group match day of the Champions League! From 6:45 p.m. Red Star Belgrade welcomes the star ensemble of Manchester City. Have fun with this encounter!