“They are a strong, exceptional team,” Red Star manager on Celtic

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The Celtic Star

·23 September 2025

“They are a strong, exceptional team,” Red Star manager on Celtic

Vladan Milojevic, the Red Star Belgrade manager has talked up Celtic, describing the Scottish Champions as “a strong, exceptional team” and Brendan Rodgers as a “great coach” ahead of tomorrow night’s Europa League opener…

Head coach Vladan Milojevic looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League group B match between Crvena Zvezda and Bayern Muenchen at Rajko Mitic Stadium on November 26, 2019 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)

Of course both sides suffered shock Champions League play-off defeats to minnows with Celtic losing to Kairat Almaty while Red Star lost out to Cypriot Champions Pafos, who actually won in Belgrade. And like Celtic who have won 13 titles in the past 14 seasons, Red Star are Serbia’s dominant force over the past eight seasons.

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“These are special games, especially when you play games like this, we are teams that participated in the Champions League last year so we have a lot of games against teams who could be in that competition,” Milojevic said, as reported by BBC Sport.

“We are representing Serbia and the city of Belgrade. I am really glad we have teams like this coming to Belgrade as it has been a long time since Celtic were here,” Vladan Milojevic said.

Coach of Crvena Zvezda Vladan Milojevic during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD8 match between BSC Young Boys and FK Crvena Zvezda at Stadion Wankdorf on January 29, 2025 in Bern, Switzerland. (Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images)

“They are a strong, exceptional team. The inspiration is always playing such matches against, I repeat, an exceptional opponent. Celtic are playing well in their own league. They have a great coach who was working in the English Premier League.”

Vladan Milojevic, like the rest of us, couldn’t quite believe that Celtic could lose to Kazakh side Kairat Almaty in their play-off. “Celtic was favourite in those games and have much better qualities than Kairat,” the Red Star coach explained. “They played those two games and I don’t want to say anything bad about the Kairat team but it was not the right parameters.

Brendan Rodgers manager of Celtic Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug 2025Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock

“Celtic is a team that was made for participation in the Champions League”

“They have had certain issues, but at the beginning of our championships we also had issues. On the other hand a lot of journalists from Serbia have been asking me who is the favourite? In my opinion, there is no favourite in football.

“On paper you can write what you want but Celtic is a team that was made for participation in the Champions League. It is dominant and strong. It’ll be an interesting game in any case and a good game.”

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