Serbian Powerhouse Crvena Zvezda Looks To Advance In Champions League Play

Defending Serbian Super Liga champions took the first leg of their Champions League second round qualifying set against HJK Helsinki 2-0 at home. They’re now hitting the road for the second leg looking to advance. Crvena Zvezda–and for that matter the Serbian Super Liga as a whole–is a team definitely ‘under the radar’. They’re better known as ‘Red Star Belgrade’ in English but they’ve won back to back Super Liga titles and have four titles and two runner up finishes in the last six seasons. They reached the Champions League Group Stage last year and although they didn’t fare particularly well going 1-1-4 they were in a brutal group that included eventual champions Liverpool, Serie A side Napoli and a Paris Saint-Germain in good enough form to finish atop Group C.

Their opponent here is HJK Helsinki–the most dominant team in Finland’s Veikkausliiga. They’ve won back to back titles and 8 of the last 10 league championships. Between 2009 and 2014 they won eight straight Veikkausliiga titles. HJK definitely caught an easy first round matchup beating Tórshavn–they play in the Faroe Islands Premier League but on the international stage they’re considered a semi-pro team.

Crvena Zvezda catches HJK near the midway point of their league schedule but not in particularly good form. They’re currently in 5th place on the table with a record of 6-9-3 with two wins and three draws in their last five league fixtures. Crvena Zvezda is unbeaten in 7 straight in all competitions and have lost only three of their last 25 in all competitions with a record of 18-4-3. Their form in Super Liga play is even more impressive–they’ve lost only 1 and drawn only 2 in their last 25 league games for a record of 22-2-1. They’ve shown very impressive defense–in Super Liga play they’ve allowed only 1 goal in their last 7 games and have put up six straight clean sheets. In three Champions League qualification games this season they’ve allowed only 1 goal as well.

Tempering our enthusiasm with Crvena Zvezda is the fact that a) they’re a defensively oriented side and b) they don’t need a win to advance. They have the skill set and the motivation to play for a draw which makes it difficult to lay the -1/2 on the Champions League soccer odds handicap. At the same time, they’re the superior qualitative side. We’ll look for the Serbian team to control tempo as this game goes ‘Under’ the total.

BET CRVENA ZVEZDA/HJK HELSINKI UNDER 2, 2.5 +113

Get the latest soccer odds and props from all over the world–follow BetOnline.ag on Twitter!