Red Star Belgrade vs. Barcelona: Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

Barcelona will visit Red Star Belgrade in Serbia on Wednesday night, aiming for a third straight Champions League victory.

Entering this encounter, the Red-Whites have won only one of their past six home games in the Champions League, while the Catalan giants aim to win their third consecutive away match without a reply in all competitions.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Except for two minor losses in the Champions League (2-1) and La Liga (4-2) against Osasuna, Barcelona has started the season spotless in thirteen games. They enter Wednesday's match on a six-game winning run, scoring an astounding twenty-four goals.

With a 5-0 home victory over Young Boys in their second Champions League match of the newly-formed league phase and a 4-1 thrashing of Bayern Munich on matchday three two weeks ago, Hansi Flick's men moved up to 10th place in the 36-team UCL table, three points behind the leaders.

Dani Olmo scored twice, and in-form winger Raphinha scored once as Barcelona cruised to a 3-1 victory over Catalan rivals Espanyol last weekend in domestic play, building on their epic 4-0 El Clasico victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Catalan Giants have been gearing up for their first meeting with Red Star since October 1996, when they won 4-2 on aggregate in the second round of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup en route to winning the competition. Now that they sit nine points clear atop La Liga, even though Real Madrid is in second place. Their focus will turn back to the Champions League.

Barcelona aims to score four or more goals in three consecutive European matches for the first time since the 1959-60 campaign when they scored five goals against AC Milan and nine in a two-legged tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers. This comes after scoring nine goals in their last two Champion League matches against Young Boys (four) and Bayern (five).

Red Star Belgrade is one of nine clubs in the 2024–25 Champions League without a win. They are also one of six teams without a point after three games and have let in 11 goals, tied for the most with Slovan Bratislava and Dinamo Zagreb.

Matchday one saw the Red-Whites lose 2-1 at home to Benfica, matchday two saw them lose 4-0 away to Inter Milan, and their most recent UCL encounter was a 5-1 loss at Monaco two weeks ago. Red Star has the poorest Champions League record of any side, with at least 20 games played and an 81% loss rate (W2 D2 L17).

Surprisingly, Vladan Milojevic's squad is now in 33rd place out of 36 teams. With five games left, they are only three points out of the playoff slots for the final sixteen. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the Serbian team can secure valuable points in their next three matches against AC Milan, Barcelona, and Stuttgart.

Red Star may struggle to gain ground in the Champions League, but they've been rocking it at home. In 13 matches in the Serbian SuperLiga this season, they've won 12 and drew 1. They've scored 43 goals while allowing just 8. Their 3-0 victory against Vojvodina on Sunday, after a 7-0 Serbian Cup thumping of Tekstilac Odzaci four days earlier, increased their advantage atop the standings to ten points.

Before Wednesday's match, Red Star had lost all nine of their European encounters against Barcelona, with their only victories coming in the Fairs Cup in the '60s (3-2 in December 1962 and 1-0 in January 1963). They are now trying to prevent a repeat of Benfica's eight-game losing streak in the Champions League from March 2017 to September 2018.

Red Star Belgrade vs. Barcelona Team News

Peter Olayinka, a winger for Red Star, will miss Wednesday's match due to an Achilles injury. Nemanja Radonjic, who came in as a substitute against Vojvodina on Sunday but was substituted off eight minutes into the game due to an unidentified problem, will also be out for Wednesday's match.

Both defender Ognjen Mimovic and goalkeeper Omri Glazer have missed significant time this season with injuries; it is unclear if they will be able to play against Barcelona on Saturday.

Bruno Duarte and Cherif Ndiaye are expected to spearhead Red Star's attack; Duarte has six goals for the season. Rade Krunic, a former AC Milan midfielder, Timi Max Elsnik, and Andrija Maksimovic, a 17-year-old, could form a central midfield partnership.

Injury concerns have sidelined Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Marc Bernal (knee), Ronald Araujo, Ferran Torres (hamstring), Eric Garcia (muscle), and Andreas Christensen (Achilles). Barcelona will be missing a few key players.

While Hector Fort might be benched in favor of Jules Kounde at right back, Frenkie de Jong and Gavi will again be vying for a spot in the center midfield, this time ahead of Marc Casado and Pedri.

Under Flick's tutelage, Raphinha has scored 11 goals and assisted on nine more, for a total of 20 goals. Along with Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal, the Brazilian winger is set to start in attack. On matchday three, he scored a triple trick in the 4-1 victory against Bayern Munich.

Our Predictions

Barcelona to win and over 3.5 goals @ 1.92 on Sky247.ng

I don't see the Serbian giants Red Star pulling off an incredible shock against Flick's hot crop on Wednesday, even though they will surely remember their famous 2-0 Champions League victory against Liverpool six years ago.

Yes, the Catalan giants have been on fire lately, and we expect them to breeze to a resounding victory in Belgrade.

Elevate your betting experience with SKY247 Nigeria. Join now and discover a thrilling world of sports, live events, and exclusive bonuses. Bet with confidence on your favorite teams and games.