Red Star Belgrade are in the need of a miracle when they face Sassuolo in a return leg of the Europa League play-offs in the serbian capital.
The former european champions had an awful first game in Italy, losing with 0-3 and giving their opponents an almost untouchable advantage. Domenico Berardi, Matteo Politano and Gregoire Defrel scored for Sassuolo in the first leg, so now Eusebio Di Francesco’s boys are ready to finish the job and qualify for the Europa League group stage.
It’s very brave to think that Red Star could recover after such a result in the first leg, but what they really could do is win the game and at least deliver some kind of an apology to their fans. Even if they still say goodbye to the competiton, Miodrag Bozovic and his players are probably going to play entirely for their honour and reputation.
And while Red Star is a well known name in european football, the rapid progression of Sassuolo is a curious one. The club won a promotion for Serie A for first time in its history in 2013 and just three years later they already managed to qualify for the european competitions. Sassuolo is a solid and very balanced team, which is why they managed to finish at 6th place in Serie A last season.
Red Star on the other hand continues to dominate in the serbian league with five wins from six games played, but for some reason this legendary club can’t repeat its solid domestic performances in Europe.
Most surely Sassuolo is qualifying for the group stage of the tournament. The italian team is not going to lose a satisfying advantage like this. Red Star will try to please its fans with a win, but it’s not going to be easy to beat such an organized opponent, especially after the result in the first leg.
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