Red Star Belgrade and Sturm Graz end 4-game losing runs in Champions League
Red Star's Rade Krunic celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Red Star and Stuttgart at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. Credit: AP/Darko Vojinovic
Red Star Belgrade and Sturm Graz ended four-game losing runs in the Champions League to get their first points and wins on Wednesday.
Red Star, the 1991 European Cup winner, rallied for a 5-1 rout of Stuttgart after the German team had taken the lead in the fifth minute.
Sturm Graz won 1-0 against Girona, the Spanish newcomer to European competitions this season.
Among the seven later games, Liverpool was taking the only perfect record in the competition into hosting Real Madrid and Aston Villa was hosting Juventus.
Red Star’s goal to level the game in the 12th was scored by on-loan forward Silas, playing against his parent club. He started the season with Stuttgart in his sixth year with the Bundesliga club.
The Congo international held up his hands as if in apology as part of a low-key celebration for the champion of Serbia.
Sturm’s Danish forward Mika Biereth sealed the win in the 59th for just the second goal in the competition for the Austrian champion after five rounds.
Supporters of Red Star celebrate after Mirko Ivanic scored his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Red Star and Stuttgart at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. Credit: AP/Darko Vojinovic
All four teams in early action stayed outside the qualifying places to advance to the knockout round, with Stuttgart best placed in 27th in the new 36-team standings format.
The top eight teams in January go direct to the round of 16 in March, and teams placed from ninth to 24th enter a playoffs round in February. Those two-leg playoffs will decide the other eight round of 16 teams.
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