Manchester City vs Red Star Belgrade Preview

Manchester City will begin their defence of the Champions League this Tuesday when they face Serbian domestic champions Red Star Belgrade at the Etihad Stadium.

After several years of hurt, the Cityzens finally secured the Champions League last season, beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul. And so they will enter their 13th consecutive UCL group appearance with the full expectation of reaching the knockout phase just as they did in each of their last ten.

Not only is their UCL form in the past ten seasons backing that expectation, but their imperious beginning to their Premier League campaign (W5) will also serve as a confidence boost.

Pep Guardiola’s side’s record in European home games also offers perspective as to what we can expect, with this game kicking off five years since the host’s last home defeat in European action (W24, D2).

Meanwhile, Crvena Zvezda enter this tie in poor form, having lost two of their last three games against much lesser opposition in the Serbian Super Liga.

Red Star’s woeful record against PL sides across their last seven European games also casts doubt on their chances of getting a good result here, with the visitors winning just once in England (D1, L5). That terrible run includes a 9-0 aggregate loss to Tottenham the last time they were grouped with an English side back in 2019/20.

Meanwhile, it’s not only in England that they struggle but in Europe aswell. They have won just once in their last eight European away trips (W1, D2, L5), and with defeats in all three of their Europa League away group games last term, any ambitious dreams of UCL glory may be short-lived.