more efficiently. Of course, there are still some
details that will come with the time, but we are
on a good track.
Your first year at the club was interrupted
by the coronavirus pandemic. If it had
been a normal season – without COVID-19
and the proviso of one-leg qualifiers – do
you think that you might have qualified for
the Champions League?
I’m still sorry that we didn’t play two matches
against Omonia Nicosia. If we had played a
return leg [after a1-1 draw in Cyprus] in
Belgrade, in front of 50,000 fans, we would
have had a big chance to kick them out. We
would have earned more money for the club,
even if we possibly would have been eliminated
afterwards by Olympiakos [in the play-off
round].
The Champions League is the elite
competition.Judging by history and reputation,
Red Star belongs to this competition. But, on
the other hand, the Europa League is the right
place for us at this point. Here we can compete
and show how much quality we have.
Reaching the Europa League knockout
stage is a fine success. Do you think that
Red Star can achieve more in this
campaign? To reach the round of16, or
even the quarter-finals?
Red Star is a big club and we surely can do a
lot. If I said that we cannot reach the round of
16, then it wouldn’t make sense to be where I
am. I believe in our success, I believe in my
team. We showed that we can achieve a lot.
In Milan, you got one of the most difficult
opponents for the round of 32. How do
you feel about the draw?
It’s a tough opponent. They are the leaders in
Serie A and we all know about their history and
their great successes in Europe. In the last
couple of years they were undergoing a
transition, but it seems that in this season they
have found balance. With [Stefano] Pioli they
DEJAN STANKOVIC
have gained a lot. He is an excellent coach.
It will be a spectacle, I have no doubts.
Hopefully by then something changes in terms
of playing behind closed doors. If we could playTop two...Red Star were the only team to take points off Hoffenheim in their Europa League group stage, drawing
0-0 in Belgrade
in a packedMarakana[the local name for the
Rajko Mitic Stadium], that’s something we
would wish. Milan will continue to play league
games, while we have the winter break andRed Star legend...Stankovic left Belgrade for Lazio after
starring at France ‘98Record-extending...
Red Star won their
31st national league
title last year