The Santiago Bernabeu is a difficult place to go to, but it’s not what it was – at least not during Alfredo di Stefano’s era. Real Madrid are formiddable opposition at home for any La Liga side, but over the weekend they lost the title as the most impregnable league side in history.
On Saturday, Red Star Belgrade ran out 3-1 winners over Mladost Lucani, with goals from Aleksandar Katai, Jovan Mijatovic and Hwang In-Beom rendering Uros Sremcevic’s goal a mere consolation for the visitors. That in itself isn’t remarkable, but it did extend Red Star’s unbeaten run at the Rajko Mitic Stadium, alternatively known as the little Maracana.
Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) broke a record that had stood since the 1960s over the weekend! 👏
Included in today's 𝐕𝐀𝐑 (𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠) 👇
➡️ https://t.co/XLfb4zpjus pic.twitter.com/UESFbG7H16
— Graham Ruthven (@grahamruthven) December 11, 2023
It was their 122nd game in the Serbian league without defeat at home, a run that dates back to 2017, when they were beaten by rivals Partizan Belgrade 3-1, as noted by Marca. During that time Red Star have won six leagues, scoring 339 goals and conceding just 54 goals – less than onece every two games. In addition, they have only dropped points on just 12 occasions, giving them a win rate of 90.1%.
Crvena zvezda je svetski rekorder!
🥇1️⃣2️⃣2️⃣
🔴⚪️ #fkcz pic.twitter.com/KOn8XeVPcS
— FK Crvena zvezda (@crvenazvezdafk) December 9, 2023
The significance of this is that it snaps Real Madrid’s record of 121 home games unbeaten, which ran between 1957 and 1965, holding for 58 years. Their run began with a 1-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna, and was ended by Atletico Madrid. With more games these days, Red Star were able to reach that number of games three years quicker than Los Blancos.
Katai, Mijatović i Hvang za 122. pobedu na Marakani!
⚽️8’ Katai
⚽️68’ Mijatović
🅰️Lučić⚽️88’ Hvang
🅰️Mijatović🔴⚪️#fkcz pic.twitter.com/G5IoJ9G0F0
— FK Crvena zvezda (@crvenazvezdafk) December 9, 2023
