Red Star Belgrade vs Barcelona: Preview, predictions and lineups | OneFootball

Hansi Flick's red-hot Barcelona are back in Champions League action on Wednesday night as they take on Red Star Belgrade in the Serbian capital.

Flick's Barca have dazzled at the start of 2024/25, with the new German coach building his team around the next great generation of La Masia starlets. The La Liga leaders produced an outstanding performance on Matchday 3 against Bayern Munich, thumping the German giants 4-1 in Catalonia.

That victory followed a seamless triumph over Young Boys, but they were beaten away from home by Monaco on Matchday 1 having been forced to play much of the game with ten men.

An impressive goal difference has salvaged Barcelona's early position in the league phase table with six points, and there's scope for Wednesday's visitors to enjoy another productive continental outing in Belgrade. Perennial Serbian champions Red Star are one of six teams yet to pick up a point in the Champions League this term.

While they're dominating domestically once more, Red Star have been beaten by Benfica, Inter and Monaco in their first three league phase games.

Here is 90min's guide to Barcelona's upcoming Champions League clash.

Red Star Belgrade vs Barcelona H2H Record (Last Games)

Current form (all competitions)

How to watch Red Star Belgrade vs Barcelona on TV and live stream

Red Star Belgrade team news

Peter Olayinka could be out for a while with an Achilles injury / Pier Marco Tacca/GettyImages

The hosts are without winger Peter Olayinka for the remainder of 2024 due to an Achilles injury, while Nemanja Radonjic has had his fair share of injury woes as of late and is likely to miss out again.

The Serbian was withdrawn just eight minutes after entering the fray as a substitute against Vojvodina at the weekend.

Goalkeeper Omri Glazer and defender Ognjen Mimovic have barely featured this season and are unlikely to make their respective comebacks here.

Red Star Belgrade predicted lineup vs Barcelona

Red Star Belgrade predicted lineup vs Barcelona (3-5-2): Ilic; Young-woo, Spajic, Djiga; Silas, Krunic, Elsnik, Maksimovic, Rodic; Duarte, Ndiaye,

Barcelona team news

Flick has enjoyed quite the start to life in Catalonia / Quality Sport Images/GettyImages

Barcelona's excellent start to the season has been made all the more impressive given the injury absences Flick has been forced to mitigate.

The German coach has not welcomed back the likes of Andreas Christensen, Eric Garcia, and Ferran Torres for Wednesday's game. Ronald Araujo could return before the end of 2024, while Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Marc Bernal are out for the long haul.

Gavi, Frenkie de Jong and Fermin Lopez are contenders to come into Flick's team in Belgrade.

Barcelona predicted lineup vs Red Star Belgrade (4-2-3-1): Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde; Gavi, Casado; Yamal, Fermin, Fati; Lewandowski.

Red Star Belgrade vs Barcelona score prediction

Red Star Belgrade have simply not been able to compete at this level for decades, with the gulf in quality between the Serbian champions and sides from Europe's top five leagues proving stark over the past two matchdays.

While the Serbs are made of sterner stuff on home soil, Barcelona have little to fear. This is a young Barca side with the world at their feet, and they're not going to come unstuck against vastly inferior opposition here.

Red Star simply don't have what it takes to make this game competitive given the current mood the visitors are in.