Silas cannot convince
© Imago
Red Stern Belgrade has not only dominated the Super League for years, the opponents are now being overwhelmed. With 116 goals, the record champion, who has won the title since 2017/18, improved his own record in Serbia last weekend. On Saturday evening in the late 2-1 win at FK TSC Backa Topola, the hits of ex-Herthaner Nemanja Radonjić (76th minute) and Timi Max Elsnik (90.+2) even increased in the final quarter of an hour.
In contrast, in 16 out of 34 league games – almost half – red star has scored four goals or more. Three game days before the end of the season, the Belgraders easily exceeded their record from the 2020/21 season with 114 goals in 38 games. At that time, the Super League had been increased to 20 clubs after the Corona pandemic. The current 116 goals will certainly not be the end of the flagpole, even if the title has already been used. In 2024/25, no first division team was able to score any more goals.
“Red star currently benefits not only from an individually strong squad, but also from clear processes in the offensive game. The automatisms take effect and this can be seen from the lightness with which they play out opportunities,” explains TM data nursing officer Ratko Milicic (“GroBar33”). “At the same time, the Torrecord also shows how much the league lacks width and real competition.” A development that has already been indicated in recent years.
Red star, which has also participated in the Champions League in the last two seasons, has been a lead over the competition in recent years. This season, too, the gap to the archrival Partizan Belgrade is 28 points. The balance of Red Stern: 31 victories, two draws and a defeat. The squad value of the team, among other things, by ex-DFB player Marko Marin, working as a technical director in Belgrade, is also two and a half times as high as from Partizan at almost 71 million euros.
Red Stern Belgrade with very successful transfer periods
“The past transfer periods have been very successful for the club overall: you could hire several players with high individual quality and at the same time keep important, well-rehearsed top performers,” says Serbia expert Milicic. With Cherif Ndiaye (18 goals) and Bruno Duarte (15), two strikers from Roter Star are at the top of the list of goal. With Aleksandar Katai and Luka Ilic (both twelve) and Mirko Ivanic (ten), a total of five players broke the ten goal mark.
“In particular, Aleksandar Katai stands out this season. The experienced offensive player not only brings creativity and dribble strength, but also convinces with a strong degree. The fact that a player like Nemanja Radonjić often only finds space this season underlines the depth and quality of the squad,” says Milicic. Even if not every grip on the transfer market.
VfB loan Silas was unable to prevail properly despite the offensive power in Belgrade. In 16 league games, he scored five goals, too little for the most valuable access in the club’s history. An ankle injury also forces him to watch it since the end of March. It is therefore hardly surprising that the agreed purchase option should not be pulled over 10 million euros. “With Silas, on the other hand, it didn’t fit properly. He had difficulty integrating into the game system and showed similar weaknesses as already in Stuttgart at the end of his time,” sums up Milicic.
Potential for improvement is at least on the defensive, because despite the record, the best goal difference from the 2020/21 season with plus 94 has not yet been reached. Red star is currently plus 86. However, the predominance of the record champions will probably not tear off in the coming season.
“The offensive dominance of red star is impressive, but at the same time it illustrates the existing imbalance in the Super League. While red star acts individually and tactically at a high level, most other teams in comparable class are lacking – which it is much easier for Belgraders to convert their superiority into goals and records,” Milicic sums up. “In order for the competition to become more balanced again, the other teams of the league would also have to add up to qualitatively.”