Red Star Belgrade retake their place back with the big boys of Europe

Side set up in 1945 by communists to help the poor – and out of the Champions League for 26 years – return to face Liverpool

Red Star Belgrade. A name that echoes with nostalgic resonance. After a 26-year absence, the Serbian champions are finally back in the Champions League group stages, where they have been pitted against Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Napoli. Their most recent participation in the round-robin stage of European football’s elite competition came in 1992, the first year of the tournament’s new and revised – but not current – format.

Sanctions imposed on the back of a violent and bloody Balkan conflict, then in its infancy, meant they were forced to play their home matches outside what was then their home nation of Yugoslavia. Defeat against Anderlecht in a five-goal thriller meant the team of Sinisa Mihajlovic, Darko Pancev and Mitko Stojkovski finished behind Sampdoria, who advanced to the final where they lost to Barcelona.

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