Mihailo Ristić ( sr-cyr, Михаило Ристић, ; born 31 October 1995) is a Serbian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

er who plays as a left-back for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club Benfica and the Serbia national team.

Club career

Red Star Belgrade

Born in Bijeljina, Ristić played with Partizan Donja Trnova and Rudar Ugljevik during his youth career, before he moved to

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

, in early 2013 thanks to a scouting search. He became one of the best players in Red Star's youth teams in shortly time, and was called to the first team under coach

Ricardo Sá Pinto Ricardo Manuel Andrade e Silva Sá Pinto (born 10 October 1972) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a forward, currently manager of Persian Gulf Pro League club Esteghlal. He was known for his fighting spirit, best displayed in hi ...

for the last league fixture of the 2012–13 season against Vojvodina. Although he did not make a deby on that match, he was on the bench during the game. After the end of his youth career, Ristić signed his first professional contract with

in July 2014. He made his Serbian SuperLiga debut for

on 9 August 2014, under coach

Nenad Lalatović Nenad Lalatović (, ; born 22 December 1977) is a Serbian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He is currently coaching the team FK Radnički Niš, Radnički Niš. Club career Lalatov ...

, when he replaced

Vukan Savićević Vukan Savićević (, ; born 29 January 1994) is a Montenegrin footballer who plays as a midfielder for Turkish club Giresunspor. Club career Red Star Belgrade Savićević became a senior-team player at age of 17. Coach Aleksandar Janković deci ...

in the 82 minute in a 2-0 win against Radnički Niš. During the season, he was mostly used as a defensive midfielder. After

Miodrag Božović Miodrag "Grof" Božović (, ; born 22 June 1968) is a Montenegrin football manager and former player. Playing career Club A tall central defender, Božović played alongside Yugoslav and Montenegrin legends Predrag Mijatović and Dejan Saviće ...

became the first coach of the

, Ristić started 2015–16 season as a back-up player. He also changed several positions on the field, playing as a

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

left midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or as a left-back in some occasions. At the beginning of 2016–17 season, Mihailo definitely changed his position, but he also changed his jersey number and took 73 (He had worn 24 & 36 previously). After

Luis Ibáñez Luis Ezequiel Ibáñez (born 15 July 1988), nicknamed Lucho, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a left back or as a left wingback for Serbian club Grafičar Beograd. Ibáñez started his professional career at Boca Juniors i ...

left the club, Ristić became the first choice as a left-back, which he justified making two assists in the 3rd fixture of the

2016–17 Serbian SuperLiga The 2016–17 Serbian SuperLiga was the eleventh season of the Serbian SuperLiga since its establishment. Red Star are the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 15 June 2016. Red Star Belgrade drew the highest average home attendanc ...

season against Mladost Lučani. On 14 September 2016, Ristić extended his contract with club until summer 2020.

Krasnodar

On 30 June 2017, Ristić signed a 5-year contract with the Russian Premier League side

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...

. The reported fee is believed to be around €2 million plus 20 percent of the future transfer. Ristić made his debut for new club in the first leg of third qualifying round for 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, in a 2–1 home victory over Lyngby Boldklub on 27 July 2017. On 17 August 2017, in the first leg match of the play-off round for 2017–18 UEFA Europa League Ristić scored from a long distance against his former club Red Star. However, neither the referee nor the linesman saw it as a goal, and play was continued. The final score was a 3–2 win for Krasnodar.

Loan to Sparta Prague

On 2 February 2018, Ristić moved to Czech club Sparta Prague on a one-year loan deal with an option-to-buy.

Montpellier

On 12 January 2019, Ristić joined French club

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

Benfica

On 26 May 2022, Ristić officially signed for

club Benfica on a free transfer. He made his debut for the club on 27 August, replacing

Alejandro Grimaldo Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander (Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander (Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr (Rus ...

in the 91st minute in a 3–0 away win over Boavista in the

. He scored his first goal for the club on 6 November, closing Benfica's 5–1 victory over Estoril.

International career

Ristić was a member of Serbia national under-19 football team between 2013 and 2014. During that period, Ristić played as a left-back in some matches. He was also called into

U20 U20 or U-20 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , a sloop of the Royal Navy * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Great truncated cuboctahedron * Meizu U20, a smartphone * Roland U-20, a synthesizer * Small nucleolar RNA SN ...

squad under coach Veljko Paunović in 2015, but he later missed FIFA U-20 World Cup because of

tonsillectomy Tonsillectomy is a list of surgical procedures, surgical procedure in which both palatine tonsils are fully removed from the back of the throat. The procedure is mainly performed for recurrent tonsillitis, throat infections and obstructive sleep ...

. Selector of

Serbia national under-23 football team The Serbia national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Serbia and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia. Both FIFA and UEFA consider the Serbian national team to be the direct and sole successor of the ...

Milan Rastavac Milan Rastavac ( sr, Милан Раставац; born 1 November 1973) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He is coach of Vojvodina. Playing career Rastavac started his playing career in Vojvodina youth squad. During ...

invited him to squad for a revival match against

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

in December 2015. Ristić was called, and made his debut for Serbia U21 team in a match against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

, played in March 2016. Coach

Slavoljub Muslin Slavoljub Muslin ( sr-Cyrl, Славољуб Муслин, ; born 15 June 1953) is a Serbian football manager and former player. Muslin began his head coaching career in 1988 and has since had stints in France, Morocco, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine ...

invited Ristić for a friendly match of the

Serbia national football team The Serbia national football team ( sr, Фудбалска репрезентација Србије, Fudbalska reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in men's international football competition. It is controlled by the Football Association of ...

against

in September 2016. Ristić made his international debut for the

in a friendly 3-0 loss to

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Red Star Belgrade * Serbian SuperLiga: 2013–14, 2015–16 *

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup ...

runner-up: 2016–17

References

External links

Profile
at the S.L. Benfica website
Mihailo Ristić stats
at utakmica.rs * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ristic, Mihailo 1995 births Living people People from Bijeljina Association football fullbacks Serbian footballers Serbia international footballers Serbia youth international footballers Serbia under-21 international footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina footballers Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Red Star Belgrade footballers FC Krasnodar players AC Sparta Prague players Montpellier HSC players S.L. Benfica footballers Serbian SuperLiga players Russian Premier League players Czech First League players Ligue 1 players Primeira Liga players Serbian expatriate footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Russia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in the Czech Republic Serbian expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate footballers in France Serbian expatriate sportspeople in France Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in France Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Portugal