Class of 1991 give Crvena Zvezda hope

FK Crvena Zvezda hope past glories can lift them against FC Bayern München – though one former player says their only chance of avoiding defeat is "to cancel the match".

European champions
The two former European champions meet in Belgrade on Thursday in arguably the glamour tie of UEFA Cup Matchday 1. But according to ex-Crvena Zvezda player Draguslav Stepanović, now coaching Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, "there is only one way for Crvena Zvezda not to lose and that is to cancel the match". Stepanović described the Bavarian giants as "unstoppable", even though the Bundesliga leaders are coming up against the Serbian title-holders.

Past experience
Crvena Zvezda's sporting director Stevan Stojanović knows from experience that Bayern can be beaten and is refusing to buy into such negative talk. He was the goalkeeper in the 'Red Star' side that overcame the German team 4-3 on aggregate in the 1990/91 European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-finals en route to a shoot-out success against Olympique de Marseille in the final.

Massive success
Goals from Darko Pancev and Dejan Savićević overturned a Bayern opener in the first leg of that tie in Munich to give the then Yugoslavian champions what Stojanović called "the most important away victory in our history". However, the job was far from done, and the second leg proved to be horribly dramatic for Stojanović and Bayern defender Klaus Augenthaler.

'Close to catastrophe'
"I will remember every minute of that match for the rest of my life," said Stojanović. "When Siniša Mihajlović scored the opener with a quick free-kick from 30 metres, everybody thought it was over and we were in the final, but Germans are Germans – their mental strength is fantastic. Bayern scored two goals in the second half. We came so close to catastrophe.

'A miracle'
"I made the biggest mistake of my career when I let a ball through my legs after Augenthaler shot from 25 metres," he remembered. "In the last second with the scores at 1-2, Mihajlović punted a long ball towards [Raimund] Aumann's net. Augenthaler put a foot wrong for the first time in the entire game and scored an own goal. That was a miracle. I think we were the better team but it took help from God to get us to the final."

Bayern concerns
The fates may have given Crvena Zvezda a helping hand ahead of tonight's game, with Martín Demichelis, Franck Ribéry, Daniel Van Buyten and Luca Toni all ruled out through injury or illness for the match in Belgrade. Moreover, they know to expect a fiery atmosphere. Midfielder Hamit Altıntop said: "The fans will be very aggressive but we must not let them intimidate us."

Friendly faces
Goalkeeper Michael Rensing, who will deputise again for the injured Oliver Kahn, will see some friendly faces in the stand. His mother is from the former Yugoslavia and some of her relatives from around the Serbian capital will be coming to cheer their kinsman on. Stojanović, meanwhile, will be hoping Crvena Zvezda's class of 2007 can pull off a result to do his 1991 vintage proud.