2023–24 Red Star Belgrade Season

The 2023–24 Red Star Belgrade season is the club's 18th in the Serbian SuperLiga and 78th consecutive season in the top flight of Yugoslav and Serbian football. The club is participating in the Serbian SuperLiga, Serbian Cup and UEFA Champions League.

Summary

Pre-season

The first signings for this season were free transfers of Nigerian international winger Peter Olayinka on 9 January and New Zealand international midfielder Marko Stamenic on 6 February. Olayinka spent last five seasons with the Czech powerhouse Slavia Prague and joined the club on a three-year-long contract with an option for a fourth year. And Stamenic, who spent last three seasons with the Danish side Copenhagen, will be joining the club on a four-year-long contract.

On 19 May the club announced that the head coach for this season will be Israeli manager and former footballer Barak Bakhar. Previously he managed Israeli club Maccabi Haifa with whom he won last three Israeli Premier League titles and qualified for 2022–23 UEFA Champions League by eliminating Red Star in play-off round. Bakhar signed a three-year-long contract with the club.

On 13 June Serbian defender Radovan Pankov left the club after four seasons. He joined Polish powerhouse Legia Warsaw on a 3-year contract.

On 16 June two more players left the club. Serbian midfielder and product of club's youth academy Veljko Nikolić left the club to join Cypriot champions Aris Limassol. Nikolić was member of the first team for four seasons, during which he won four SuperLiga and three Serbian cup titles. In total he had 82 appearances and scored 10 goals. Second player to leave was Serbian forward Aleksandar Pešić who moved to the Hungarian powerhouse Ferencvárosi. This ended his second spell at the club, for which he won two Serbian SuperLiga and one Serbian cup in total while appearing in 91 match and scoring 45 goals.

On 19 June the club announced that they will be returning Serbian midfielder Jovan Šljivić from a loan. He also signed a new three-year-long contract with the club. Šljivić, who is a product of club's youth system, spent last season playing at Grafičar.

On 20 June the club announced the transfer of Ivorian international forward Jean-Philippe Krasso on a free transfer from the French side Saint-Étienne. Krasso signed four-year-long contract with the club.

On 21 June the club announced the transfer of Ghanaian international midfielder Edmund Addo on a free transfer from the Serbian side Spartak Subotica. Addo signed four-year-long contract with the club.

On 22 June the club announced the transfer of Israeli international goalkeeper Omri Glazer for an estimated transfer fee of €1,200,000. Glazer arrived from the Israeli side Hapoel Be'er Sheva where he won goalkeeper of the season in the Israeli Premier League for two consecutive years. He signed three-year-long contract with the club with the one-year extension option.

On 4 July Canadian international goalkeeper Milan Borjan left the club after being first goalkeeper for the previous six seasons. In that time he won six consecutive Serbian SuperLiga's and three Serbian Cups making him one of the most decorated players in club history and placing him on the ninth player on the all-time appearances list. Borjan left on the one-year-long loan to the Slovak champions Slovan Bratislava.

On 23 July Serbian international defender and product of club's youth academy Strahinja Eraković left the club after three seasons in which he had 103 caps for the club and won 3 Serbian SuperLiga and 3 Serbian Cup titles. He joined Russian side Zenit on a four-year-long contract for an estimated transfer fee of €8,000,000. On the same day the club announced signing of a Serbian winger Uroš Kabić on a four-year-long contract. He arrived at the club from Serbian side Vojvodina for an estimated fee of €800,000.

On 24 July Australian international defender Miloš Degenek returned to the club for his third spell. He arrived from US side Columbus Crew for an estimated fee of €500,000 and signed two-year-long contract with the club with an option for one year extension.

On 28 July Serbian midfielder Nikola Knežević, who is the product of the club's youth academy, was promoted to the first squad after being loaned to Grafičar and Napredak during the last two seasons. He also signed a new four-year-long contract until summer of 2027.

August

In Serbian SuperLiga Red Star played five matches, winning the first four and losing the fifth one against Voždovac. That defeat ended their record breaking undefeated run in Serbian SuperLiga of 65 games since October of 2021. At the end of the month Red Star was second placed team in the leage, with one point behind TSC.

By winning previous season Serbian SuperLiga the club qualified for the group stage of 2023–24 UEFA Champions League. This will be the fourth time in the club's history that they will play in the Champions League group stage. On the draw that was held on 31 August the club was drawn into Group G together with current Champions League winners and English champions Manchester City with whom they will play for the first time, German DFB-Pokal winners RB Leipzig with whom they will also play for the first time and Swiss champions Young Boys with whom they played two times before.

On 22 August Serbian veteran midfielder Slavoljub Srnić on a free transfer and joined Cypriot side AEL Limassol. This ended his third spell at the club for which he played 208 games in total, scorred 22 goals, won 6 Serbian SuperLiga titles and 3 Serbian Cup titles.

Also on 22 August Georgian international defender Irakli Azarovi left the after just one season in order to join Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk for an estimated fee of around €3,000,000. During his stay at the club he played 26 games and won Serbian SuperLiga and Serbian Cup.

On 23 August Serbian defender and product of the club's youth academy Andrej Đurić returned to the club after two seasons playing for the Slovenian side Domžale. He signed four-year-long contract with an option for one year extension.

September

In Serbian SuperLiga Red Star played three games, with two more games being postponed including first eternal derby of this season. Two of those games ended with a win and one with the defeat. At the end of the month the club dropped to third place on the table, four points behind TSC and Partizan.

The club also started their Champions League run with an away game defeat against reigning European champions Manchester City.

On 1 September Serbian defender and product of the club's youth academy Stefan Leković joined Spanish side Villarreal on a season long loan with an option to buy at the end of the season.

On 4 September Burkinabé international defender Nasser Djiga arrived at the club on a year long loan from Swiss side Basel with an buy out option.

On 12 September Serbian defender Marko Gobeljić left the club after six seasons during which he gathered 183 caps, scorred 11 goals and won 6 Serbian SuperLiga and 3 Serbian Cup titles. He joined Greek side Kifisia on a free transfer.

On 14 September Korean international midfielder Hwang In-beom arrived at the club for a record breaking transfer of an estimated €5,500,000 from Greek side Olympiacos and signed four-years-long contract with the club.

On 15 September Senegalese forward Cherif Ndiaye joined the club from Turkish side Adana Demirspor and signed three-years-long deal with an option for the fourth year.

October

In Serbian SuperLiga Red Star won all three games they played, witch brought them back to the second place on the table, seven points behind leading Partizan.

In Champions League the club played two games, a draw against Young Boys at home and a loss against RB Leipzig in an away game. This tied them with the Young Boys at the third place with one point each.

Draw for the first round of Serbian Cup was held on 11 October. Red Star were drawn to play an away game against Trayal. The game was originally scheduled to be played on 1 November, but it was rescheduled to 18 October.Звезда против Трајала 18. октобра, карте у продаји у понедељак и уторак на Маракани
crvenazvezdafk.com, 13 October 2023 Red Star won the game 6–0 and qualified for the Round of 16.

November

In Serbian SuperLiga Red Star won all three games they played, witch kept them at the second place on the table, three points behind leading Partizan.

In Champions League the club lost both games it played, against RB Leipzig at home and Young Boys in an away game. This secured them last place in the group with one game remaining.

Draw for the Round of 16 of the Serbian Cup was held on 7 November and Red Star were drawn to play a home game against Radnički Niš. Game is scheduled to be played on 6 December

December

In Serbian SuperLiga Red Star ended first half of the championship with three wins and a 1–2 defeat against Partizan in the Eternal derby. This kept them at the second place on the table, one behind leading Partizan.

In Champions League the club lost its last game of the season against Manchester City at home, ending their run at the last place of the group.

Red Star played second round of Serbian Cup against Radnički Niš and won 5–0. On 25 December quarter-finals draw took place on which Red Star was drawn against OFK Vršac in a home game that will be played on 4 April 2024.

On 17 December the club signed new contract with young fullback Kosta Nedeljković until the summer of 2027.

On 20 December, after the loss in the Eternal derby, Israeli coach Barak Bakhar was sacked after just six months. His replacemet was announced two days later, on 22 December - Serbian coach Vladan Milojević. This will be Milojević's second spell at the club, after previously being Red Star's manager for two seasons between 2017 and 2019. In his first tenure he won two Serbian SuperLiga titles. Milojević joined the club on a two and a half years contract.

January

The club will organize mid-season training camp between 15 January and 2 February in Paphos on Cyprus during which they will play five friendly games.

Five of the club's players received call-ups to their national team squads for the continental championships that will be played at the start of this year. Nasser Djiga, Kings Kangwa, Osman Bukari and Jean-Philippe Krasso will play at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations while Hwang In-beom will play at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. Kangwa represented Zambia in all three group stage matches, scored one goal and was eliminated after ending on the third place of the group. Bukari represented Ghana in two games and was also eliminated in the group stage.

At the start of the year Argentine right-back Alex Vigo returned to River Plate after his loan at the club expired and Red Star decided not to activate his buy-out option. He was at the club for a year, during which he gathered 16 caps and scorred 3 goals.

On 14 January Serbian backup goalkeeper Nikola Vasiljević left the club after four and a half years, most of which he spent on multiple loans. He joined Serbian side Radnički Niš on a free transfer.

On 22 January Serbian defender Kosta Nedeljković signed the contract with English side Aston Villa for an estimated fee of €9,000,000. He will remain part of the Red Star until the end of current season.

Players

Players and squad numbers last updated on 14 January 2024. Appearances include league matches only.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

* Note: SuperLiga imposes a requirements on under-21 players (marked as ^''U21'') and foreign players (marked as ^''FGN''). There must be at least one ^''U21'' and no more than four ^''FGN'' players on the pitch at any time.

Pre-season and friendlies

Competitions

Overview

Serbian SuperLiga

Season results summary

Season results round by round

Regular season league table

Regular season matches

Serbian Cup

First Round

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Squad

Squad statistics

, -
! colspan=14 style="background:red; color:white; text-align:center;", Goalkeepers

, -
! colspan=14 style="background:red; color:white; text-align:center;", Defenders

, -
! colspan=14 style="background:red; color:white; text-align:center;", Midfielders

, -
! colspan=14 style="background:red; color:white; text-align:center;", Forwards

, -
! colspan=14 style="background:red; color:white; text-align:center;", Players transferred out during the season

Goalscorers

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.

Clean sheets

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal.

Disciplinary record

Transfers

In

Out

Loan returns and promotions

Loan out

See also

* 2023–24 KK Crvena zvezda season

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 Red Star Belgrade season
Red Star Belgrade seasons
Red Star
Red Star