This is definitely one of more interesting rematches of the Champions League play-off given that the 1st leg played in Bern finished as 2-2 draw. Young Boys were regarded as favourites to win, especially as they played in front of their fans but Crvena Zvezda had showed once again how tough they are. In the meantime Young Boys won in the Swiss Super League while Crvena Zvezda has postponed its league match. When the two teams met in Belgrade in 2004 Crvena Zvezda won by 3-0.
Crvena Zvezad is really close now to make another major accomplishment, which is to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League. We need to remind that Serbian champions played in the group stage last season and if they repeated the success it would be of great achievement of this generation. They even won Liverpool at home last season, the team that later became the European champion. Napoli also didn’t win in Belgrade, while this season no one managed to defeat Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade.
They lost one Champions League qualifier, to HJK in Helsinki by 2-1. Since they had advantage of 2-0 from the 1st leg their victory was never questionable. They fought a great battle with Copenhagen in the third qualifying round and after 1-1 in Belgrade the second match finished by the same result despite playing with 10 players since the beginning of the second half. In Berne, they were trailing behind then they having a lead, but in the end they again drew. In that match the last reinforcement brought this summer Spaniard Garcia had his debut and he was also a scorer. Jovancic is back to the team after expiration of suspension, while Jovicic is still injured.
Probable lineups Crvena Zvezda: Borjan – Gobeljic, R. Pankov, Degenek, Rodic – Jovancic, Canas – Garcia, Marin, Ivanic – Boakye
The first match with Crvena Zvezda was at the same time the first European match for the Young Boys this season. They cannot be satisfied since they didn’t use the home-field advantage. Not only they failed to win but they also received two goals. They definitely didn’t want that the result reads at the end 2-2, although in the end it was not that bad since they were losing at one point. Young Boys took the lead early and it seemed like they could finish the most of job in the 1st leg. They quickly received a goal and then received another at the very beginning of the second half.
They managed to equalise before the end and clearly they have to play to win now or at least to be even more efficient if the match ends as a draw. Young Boys didn’t have rest in between these two matches and they met Zurich in the Swiss Super League. They played excellently and triumphed by 4-0. Compared to match with Crvena Zvezda even six new players were starters and it is clear that Manager Seoane has decided to rest some players for this rematch. Forward Hoarau didn’t play because of injury, while Camara, Lauper, Spielmann and Sulejmani have the same problems from before.
Probable lineups Young Boys: von Ballmoos – Lotomba, Lustenberger, Zesiger, U. Garcia – Perreira, Sierro – Fassnacht, Aebischer, Assale – Nsame
Crvena Zvezda showed character in the Champions League qualifications and they are beaming with self-confidence. Young Boys have missed chance to gain advantage after the home match and we believe they are not capable to win in Belgrade.
Pick: Asian handicap 0 Crvena Zvezda 1.90 - 90/100 @1XBet