Red Star and Partizan Open Superliga With Wins
Both Belgrade giants launched the new domestic league season with victories, yet even with three points their coaches immediately flagged flaws in their teams' play.
- Red Star beat Vojvodina 3-1 in their Serbian Superliga opener.
- Partizan won away at Macva by the same 3-1 scoreline.
- Both clubs opened the season with the maximum of 3 points.
- Despite the wins, both coaches pointed to room for improvement.
The stands began filling half an hour before kickoff, and then the referee’s first whistle set the new season in motion. Red Star came out nervous, like a team that knows only a win will do, nothing less. Vojvodina arrived intent on spoiling the mood, and for spells they very nearly managed it.
Then, as so often before, everything turned in the space of a few minutes. Red Star found their rhythm, applied pressure and settled the match before Vojvodina could regroup. The final score read 3-1, and the three points went exactly where they had been planned, into the champions’ cabinet.
A similar script played out during Partizan’s trip. The black and whites travelled to Macva with the same assignment, to begin the campaign with a win and to signal at once that they want to fight for the top of the table. Macva held on as long as they could, but here too quality had the final word. Partizan also won 3-1.
The statistics you won’t see in the score
A 3-1 result looks convincing on paper, but football is not played on paper. Both coaches knew that well when they sat down in front of reporters after the games.
Red Star conceded a goal that, judging by the reaction on the bench, they could and should have avoided. Partizan’s story is similar, the black and whites led, then let the hosts back into the match, and only then closed things out. These are the details that go unpunished at the start of a season, but later, when European rivals and the Belgrade derby arrive, they can prove expensive.
What encourages both sets of supporters is the efficiency. Six goals in two matches, three on each side, shows the attacks are working. The question the coaches are asking is about defence, and that is the message both delivered publicly, even though they had just won.
What comes next for the Belgrade clubs?
The opening round is always deceptive. It hands over three points, but rarely gives a true picture. Red Star and Partizan now enter the part of the calendar where league duties overlap with European qualifiers, and that is precisely where seasons are so often decided.
For both teams this was an exam that was passed, but with notes in the margin. Instead of enjoying the wins, the coaches are already turned toward the next opponent and toward the lapses they spotted straight away. That, after all, is the logic of big clubs, a win is the minimum, not the goal.
The season is long, the table will fill round by round, and the first impression is that both Belgrade heavyweights set off as expected of them. It remains to be seen whether these early warnings stay a mere footnote or grow into a problem once the pressure begins to rise in earnest.
And you, does Red Star’s conceded goal worry you more, or Partizan’s dip in concentration in the second half?
