Golovin against the “most Russian” team in the Champions League. There are six former RPL players at Red Star
Anatoly Romanov October 22, 2024, 08:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Egor Prutsev and five former foreign players from our championship play for the Serbians.
Alexander Golovin continues his adventure in the Champions League with a meeting with the “most Russian” team in the tournament. Not only another of our compatriots, Yegor Prutsev, but also a whole group of former RPL legionaries plays for Red Star. Furthermore, one of them belongs to Zenit. How successful are Vanja Drkusic, Uros Spajic, Milan Rodic, Gelor Kanga, Milson and Prutsev himself in the Serbian national team? We talk about it in this article.
Egor Prutsev
Egor Prutsev
Photo: Getty Images
Russian attacking midfielder for the third year at Red Star. Last season, Prutsev was loaned to Celje and Egor spent his time usefully in Slovenia. He won the championship title with the team, scored a “golden” goal. It could be expected that after his return to Red Star, Prutsev would establish himself in the base of the Champions League participant. But in the new season, the younger brother of the Spartak center back sits on the bench in all Champions League matches. And in the Serbian Championship, Yegor participated in seven matches: five times he was in the starting eleven, twice he came in as a substitute and three other times he remained in the reserve. He ranks 13th on the team in terms of playing time (378 minutes). The Russian gave an assist in the derby against Partizan. But according to the statistics of the “great moments” created, Prutsev shares first place in the Red Star (3).
Vanja Drkusic
Vanja Drkusic
Photo: Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
Drkusic proved himself at Euro 2024 in the Slovenian national team, so in the summer window there was a demand for a defender from the relegated Sochi. As a result, Vanya was acquired by another RPL club, Zenit. But only to give the center back to Red Star with a purchase option. Drkusic joined the Serbian national team when the season was already underway. At first, the newcomer remained in reserve, gaining form. However, then he started playing. Now the Slovenian has scored a goal in four games: against Zelezničar. In the Champions League matchday 2 match against Inter (0:4), Vanya was on the field for 88 minutes.
We remember the transfer of Drkusic to Zenit
The most mysterious transfer of the summer in the RPL. Drkusic stayed at Zenit for only three days
Uros Spajic
Uros Spajic
Photo: Ciancaphoto Studio/Getty Images
We remember Spaich from Krasnodar. Now the 31-year-old center back is the captain of Red Star. Uroš also attended Euro 2024 in the summer, but did not play there. This season, Spajic has 11 appearances for the Belgrade team in all competitions, including four in the qualifying phase and the general phase of the Champions League. Uros scored one goal: against Bodø-Glimt’s Russian goalkeeper Nikita Khaikin. In the Serbian Championship the only thing that can be highlighted from the defender’s statistics is that he is among the top three of Red Star in terms of clearances (9).
Milan Rodic
Milan Rodic
Photo: Maksim Konstantinov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The former left-back of Zenit, Nizhny Novgorod Volga and Krylia Sovetov is playing for Red Star for the eighth season. In the Champions League, Rodic, 33, started only in qualifying; He watched the game against Benfica from the bench and in the match against Inter he came on as a substitute for a few minutes. In the Serbian Championship, Milan has five appearances as a starter and one as a substitute. The defender is 1+1 with his two goals in October. Rodic is second on the team in tackles (13) and top 4 in the league in interceptions (8).
Gelor Kanga
Gelor Kanga
Photo: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The former Rostov midfielder continues to play, although, according to official data, the Gabonese is already 34 years old and, according to some, less than 40. However, this season the playmaker takes the field only in the Serbian championship, and in the Champions League he is content with the reserve role. Kanga played six games, starting two. This was enough for Gelor to lead, along with Prutsev, in the number of “big chances” created, to be second on the team in accurate long passes (36), third in fouls suffered (14) and in the top 4. in passes under attack (11). For the Serbian league, Kang has a very high level of individual skill.
Milson
Milson
Photo: Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images
The Angolan winger played for Paris NN for a year and in February 2023 he left for Türkiye. Then, in transit through the Israeli league, he ended up at Red Star. In the summer of 2024, the Serbian club bought Milson for a lot of money – 5 million euros, according to Transfermarkt. The Angolan has 10 games in which he scored three goals. One of these goals was against Benfica in the Champions League after coming on as a substitute. With Inter on the second day, for some reason the winger remained on the bench until the final whistle. And in the Serbian championship, Milson is Red Star’s leader in fouls committed on himself (17), second in dribbles (13) and among the top four in battles won (36, with a 59% success rate).
