Belgrade is poised for one final burst of brilliance as it prepares to host the last elite event of the EJU calendar in 2025. Thirteen clubs will step into the spotlight inside the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall but none will feel the weight of expectation quite like Red Star Belgrade, the home favourites and perennial contenders. With world-class talents such as Marica Perišić and world champion Nemanja Majdov, the club is woven deeply into the sporting identity of the city, a symbol of pride, resilience and unshakeable loyalty.
We joined the team straight after their final training session. The hall hummed with quiet tension, the kind that precedes something meaningful. The athletes moved with purpose but their faces carried a softness too, the look of people who know that tomorrow isn’t simply another competition. It is a culmination.
And they said as much. Marica began:
“This is the competition of the year. In our country we only have maybe three competition that is about your club: individual and team nationals and this championships. Tomorrow is the most important one, we have European, world and Olympic medallist coming here to this competition but now everyone representing their clubs. It is different and also now it has been mixed team, it has a little extra power in it. It is like a ‘European Olympic’ competition. I did everything in my career but when it comes to this competition, it is special, here you are finally going on the mat with the people you are training every day to represent our club in the best light that we can. It is a family competition, we go there as a family. Tomorrow we will all represent what we have been building here.”
In Red Star’s long Champions League journey, they have collected silver and bronze, again and again showing grit on Europe’s biggest stage. Yet the gold, the missing piece, still waits. What better moment for destiny than on home ground, in front of their own people.
For Marica, this possibility feels almost poetic. She smiles, breathes in, and says: “The perfect ending“, she pauses, “the perfect ending would be the gold and it think now it is really possible. We are very well prepared and even our reserved part of the team is very good. We have known each other for so long so tomorrow, the best ending would be the gold medal and we will be aiming for that.”
Nemanja, whose presence carries both authority and warmth, mirrors that conviction: “It is one of the biggest goal of our career as a team. We have silver and bronze so tomorrow we will try and reach this goal front of our crowd. We have a quality team, we have everything to win it.”
Indeed, Red Star’s line-up reflects a clear intent. Alongside their homegrown stars, they have bolstered their squad with powerful reinforcements for the weekend: Temur Rakhimov (TJK), Anka Pogacnik (SLO), Özbas Szofi (HUN) and Celia Cancan (FRA), a blend of experience, explosiveness and tactical intelligence.
Now, standing between Red Star and their golden dream is the formidable Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), last year’s winners and one of the most feared teams in world judo. Nemanja speaks of them with respect and competitive fire:
“Yes it is a big club, a big club. They won it last year and this year I actually fought for them in the French League but tomorrow we will do everything to win. Tomorrow will be a big day and I want to finish with happiness.”
The mood within Red Star, however, is anything but fearful. If anything, the pressure of past years has transformed into fuel. Marica explains:
“Usually this time of the year we know what is going to happen, we know the level of stress we are going to have but now we turned into something positive because we are hyping each other. Before maybe we were scared but now we are just pushing each other positively, knowing we can win this. It has really amazing and especially in the last week coming home with three medals for our club from the Zagreb Grand Prix. I feel like everyone, even if they are not competing, they have some part of this competition and tomorrow we all going to have a part in it, doesn’t matter on or off the mat.”
Then came the final question: Why Red Star? Why does this club evoke such devotion?
Nemanja’s response arrives slowly, first a silence, a breath, a faint smile.
“Red Star is a tradition in my family. My father was supporter and also my grand father and we speak about two football fans at that time. Following that, judo began too within this country, we made a history of this club and the country and I am very proud to be part of it.”
In the echo of his words lies the truth: Red Star is more than a club. It is history, identity, and belonging. It is family. Tomorrow, when the lights come up and the hall erupts, Belgrade will not simply be hosting the Champions League.
It will be living it.
Author: Szandra Szogedi