It was an amazing match, although it seemed that Manchester City would easy deal with a rival from Serbia. Meanwhile, the hosts in the first half got a goal in the locker room. Osman Bucharest scored a goal in the 45th minute, putting the City of Manchester Stadium in amazement. After verification, VAR arbiter recognized this goal. But these 3 quarters of rivalry in England went into the past of the games due to the fact that the hosts over that time gave more than 20 shots at the rival goal, which was indeed the consequence of an incredible.
Opta has been enumerating the Champions League for nearly 2 decades, but this has not happened before. Manchester City already dominated in the second half and won most likely 3:1, which could be expected, while 1 case upset the fans.
Gazprom has unfortunately returned to the Champions League field. present with the logo of this company on Crven zvezda jerseys plays with Manchester City.
— Maciej Łuczak (@maciejluczak) September 19, 2023
UEFA broke up with Gazprom
Let us remind that UEFA cancelled a sponsorship agreement with the Russian gas company Gazprom after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. The UEFA Gazprom deal has been in force since 2012. According to estimates, it was worth about EUR 40 million per season.
On 28 February 2022, a strong message appeared on the authoritative twitter profile of UEFA: “UEFA decided present to end its cooperation with Gazprom in all the games. The decision enters into force immediately and covers all existing agreements, including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA national squad gameplay and the 2024 European Championship"
Crvena Zvezda basketball players did not solidarity with Ukraine
In the case of the Serbs, specified expressions of sympathy for Russia, signs of alliance with Moscow, are nothing new. Let us remind you that the match was held on 3 April last year Zalgiris, Kaunas au Crvena Zvezda Belgrade in Euroliga basketball. That rivalry echoed widely and resonated in the planet due to the fact that before the gathering began, there was a immense scandal. Basketball players from Serbia protested erstwhile they were asked to keep the banner in Ukrainian colours with the message "Stop War".
This was explained in a simple way: Crvena Zvezda Belgrade was already able to number on an infamous sponsor, which must undoubtedly be considered a Russian Gazprom. While German Schalke04 suspended any cooperation with this controversial, to put it mildly, subject, the management of the Belgrade club immediately ruled out specified an option, not even taking it into account, which is significant.
"Anti-Russian hysteria"
At 1 time, fans of Crvena Zvezda courted themselves with pleasance from the victims of Russian aggression in Ukraine, preparing a scandalous setting. It was very distasteful. However, the CEO of Zvezdan Terzić believes that what is happening in Europe is simply a manifestation of anti-Russian hysteria. He pointed out that politics and athletics should not be combined. It's comic adequate that Crvena Zvezda promotes Russia herself, allows her to appear in football salons.
Putin referred to the bombing of Belgrade
Many people wonder where the Serbs’ attitude toward the Russians comes from, after all, who do savagery in Ukraine. So let us remind you that in mid-February 2022 Vladimir Putin in a conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated lyingly that Russia moved to war. erstwhile Germany said that its generation had not seen how terrible the war was, the Kremel satrap called “a war unleashed by... NATO—a military operation with the bombing of the Serbian capital – Belgrade”.
Putin thinks Serbia was hurt by NATO. In the dispute over the position of Kosovo, the majority of the Albanians wanted independency and yet obtained it with the approval of the US authorities, The Kremlin traditionally supported Serbia. The independency of Kosovo was denied by Belgrade. Of course, it happened, as we know, but Russia, on the side of the Serbs, one more time got them together.
The Genesis of the Pro-Russian attitude of the Serbs
Already at the beginning of the war, many people were reasoning about what the Serbs were doing, showing specified pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian tendencies. The propaganda message that we, as Poles, do not agree with, is to be seen in the stands of Serbian stadiums, and that is profoundly rooted in the Serbian mentality.
Well, the Serbs feel that both nations are bonding Slavic and Orthodox ties. They believe that pro-Russianism can be reconciled with... pro-European aspirations, including accession to the European Union. You might think it's a dream.
A turn in politics towards Russia?
In June of this year, “Rzeczpospolita” wrote about the return in Serbian politics with respect to Russia and Ukraine:
"President Alexandar Vučić announces that he has no objection to the transfer of arms by brokers exported by Serbia to Ukraine. It is part of a fundamental rapprochement between Belgrade and the West."
As we have already mentioned, Serbia is trying to balance between the West and Russia, so it may be another manifestation of pragmatism and calculating.
One thing is certain, however, that society is inactive very pro-Russian due to the sentiments mentioned above. And Crvena Zvezda is simply a faithful Kremlin ally in the planet of football.
