Red Star ’91: Conquering Europe as Yugoslavia Collapsed – Part Two
It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast
The Overlap
4.9 • 667 Ratings
🗓️ 1 August 2025
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome back to It Was What It Was, the football history podcast. Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper bring part two into the fascinating and tragic story of Red Star Belgrade's triumphant 1991 European Cup campaign. They discuss Red Star's status as underdogs against Bayern Munich in the semifinal, their intricate path to victory amidst the backdrop of Yugoslavia's impending civil war, and the dramatic events of the legendary matches.
This episode highlights not just the team's achievements on the field, but also the historical, cultural, and political context that made their victory the last moment of unity for Yugoslav football before the nation's fragmentation. Additionally, the episode covers the aftermath of the war on Red Star and the once-great football culture of the region.
00:00 Introduction
03:18 Quarter-Final Against Dynamo Dresden
04:43 Political Tensions and the Road to the Semi-Final
08:36 The Complexities of Yugoslavia's Ethnic Divisions
12:36 The Semi-Final Against Bayern Munich
21:13 The Dramatic Second Leg against Bayern Munich
35:43 The Aftermath and Celebrations
36:16 Final against Marseille
44:13 Post-Match Reflections and Legacy
49:43 Impact of War on Red Star Belgrade
53:48 Croatian Football's Success
56:59 Conclusion
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When we arrived in Munich, we were underdogs because we had not had good results in the earlier rounds. |
| 0:12.2 | I remember looking around at the Bayern players before the game and thinking I knew who all of them were, |
| 0:17.3 | whereas nobody had heard of any of us. Then I realised they were the same age of us, |
| 0:21.3 | so they could not be more experienced or physically stronger, |
| 0:24.1 | and I convinced myself it was an equal contest. |
| 0:27.6 | That was Dajun Savitevich on Red Star Belgrade, |
| 0:30.8 | playing by Munich in the Champions League or European Cup semi-final of 1991. |
| 0:36.5 | An epic contest at semi-final. |
| 0:39.0 | It's going to precipitate one of the greatest games in European football, |
| 0:43.0 | one of the most significant. |
| 0:44.9 | It's part two of our two-parter on Red Starbell grade. |
| 0:49.2 | And really, their finest moment which comes at the point at which Yugoslavia is breaking up and the start of a tragic and terrible civil war in Yugoslavia and how to certain extent there are echoes of what's going on in Yugoslavia in politics at that time in the club fan base and around the club. And really, it's sort of tragic circumstances of their greatest hour being really the last |
| 1:13.0 | moment of Yugoslavia and Jonathan you really in the first half settled the context for that |
| 1:18.2 | you got us to the point where Red Star are about to embark on the 1990-91 European Cup campaign |
| 1:26.4 | this is going to be their finest hour. So tell us a little |
| 1:29.5 | bit about how that campaign goes and what's important about it. Yeah. Before I do that, it occurs |
| 1:35.2 | to me at the end of every episode, we ask people to rate review and recommend us. And people |
| 1:39.0 | have probably turned it off by then. So we're going to do it now. We do at the start. Please write |
| 1:43.0 | reviews for us. It really helps with the algorithm. And we're totally dependent on the algorithm. And, you know, if we're going to keep going, if we're going to survive, we're going to prosper. We need your support. Tell other people about us and please do you review us to boost us in the algorithm so people can see us. With that said, let's move on to 1991. They start the European campaign |
| 2:03.2 | quite poorly. They draw 1-1 against Grasshop as a Swiss champion. So, you know, that's problematic. |
| 2:09.8 | Peter Kursler has put Grasshopper's head. Tregishi Binich equalizes. Then the second leg, |
| 2:15.6 | Kersler scores again, but by then, Zavrester already 3-0 up. |
... |
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