Red Star Belgrade Prepares for New Era Under Coach Albert Riera Ahead of Europa League Playoff

Red Star Belgrade is entering a new phase as it prepares for its upcoming Europa League playoff match against Viktoria Plzen on Thursday. The team was recently eliminated by Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Albert Riera, the new head coach, is set to lead his first full training session on Monday, which will clarify the future of midfielder Mohamed Abu Fani. Abu Fani, who joined less than two months ago following the dismissal of former coach Dejan Stankovic, is rumored to be potentially leaving the club either on loan or permanently. Both Stankovic and Riera typically deploy Abu Fani as one of two attacking midfielders in a 4-1-4-1 formation. Sources close to Abu Fani have dismissed the possibility of him moving to Israel.

Riera has already requested the club management to sign a striker and emphasized his primary goal is to improve each player's performance. He also announced that previously sidelined players who trained separately will now join the full team sessions. Red Star currently sits second in the Serbian league with nine points, one point behind leaders IMT, but with two games in hand. Following the Europa League playoff, the team will face Čukarički in the Serbian league three days later.