FK Crvena Zvezda vs Viktoria Plzeň — UEFA Europa League: stats, lineups & analysis
Match Events
- 31′FK Crvena Zvezda, yellow card:Holding
- 36′FK Crvena Zvezda, goal:1–0assist
- 45+3′Viktoria Plzeň, yellow card:Tripping
- Half-time1 – 0
- 46′Viktoria Plzeň, substitution:off
- 53′FK Crvena Zvezda, goal:2–0assist
- 61′Viktoria Plzeň, substitution:off
- 72′FK Crvena Zvezda, substitution:off
- 72′FK Crvena Zvezda, substitution:off
- 73′Viktoria Plzeň, substitution:off
- 73′Viktoria Plzeň, substitution:off
- 77′Viktoria Plzeň, yellow card:Holding
- 81′FK Crvena Zvezda, yellow card:Tripping
- 84′Viktoria Plzeň, yellow card:Roughing
- 84′FK Crvena Zvezda, substitution:off
- 85′FK Crvena Zvezda, substitution:off
- 86′Viktoria Plzeň, substitution:off
- 88′Viktoria Plzeň, yellow card:Holding
- 89′FK Crvena Zvezda, penalty goal:3–0Penalty
- 90′FK Crvena Zvezda, substitution:off
- 90′FK Crvena Zvezda, VAR review:Penalty confirmed
- Full-time3 – 0
Lineups
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Top Performers
Goals
Assists
Match report
Ivanić double and Katai penalty sink Plzen in Europa League play-off
FK Crvena Zvezda beat Plzen 3-0 in the UEFA Europa League play-offs at Stadion Rajko Mit, moving through the round with a comfortable home victory. The result continued a mixed patch of form for Albert Riera's side, who had lost two of their previous five outings before this display.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Mirko Ivanić opened the scoring in the 36th minute, converting from a Timi Elšnik assist to send the hosts in ahead at half-time. Ivanić struck again in the 53rd minute, once more teed up by Elšnik, doubling the lead and effectively taking the tie away from Martin Hysky's Plzen, who had arrived on the back of an unbeaten run of draws and a win.
Aleksandar Katai completed the scoring from the penalty spot in the 89th minute, making it 3-0 and putting a firm gloss on the scoreline in stoppage time. Plzen, who managed three shots on target to their opponents' one, were unable to convert their late pressure into a goal of their own.
Ivanić was directly involved in two of the three goals, scoring twice himself with both efforts set up by Elšnik.
Despite being outshot on target three to one, Crvena Zvezda made their limited chances count with three goals from few opportunities.
FK Crvena Zvezda beat Viktoria Plzeň 3–0 (half-time 1–0).
FK Crvena Zvezda met Viktoria Plzeň in the UEFA Europa League (Play-offs). Kick-off was Thursday, 20 August 2026, 18:00 UTC at Stadium Rajko Mitić. Referee: Espen Eskas.
Team pages: FK Crvena Zvezda · Viktoria Plzeň · UEFA Europa League
Key moments
- 36' Goal: Mirko Ivanić (assist: Timi Max Elšnik) — 1–0
- 53' Goal: Mirko Ivanić (assist: Timi Max Elšnik) — 2–0
- 89' Goal (penalty): Aleksandar Katai — 3–0
Starting line-ups
FK Crvena Zvezda (4-3-3)
Viktoria Plzeň (4-4-1-1)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave FK Crvena Zvezda 39%, the draw 30%, Viktoria Plzeň 31%. It finished FK Crvena Zvezda 3–0 Viktoria Plzeň.
Home ground outweighs Viktoria Plzeň's rating edge — Viktoria Plzeň are the stronger side on our strength rating, but UEFA Europa League home advantage gives FK Crvena Zvezda the lean. The draw at 30% is lifted by a low-scoring environment.
Why FK Crvena Zvezda at 39%?
Home ground, against the rating. Plzen sit 74 points higher on our strength rating — 1706 to 1780. Sides with a 50–100-point rating edge on the road won 32.9% of 10,520 such games. UEFA Europa League home sides out-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to draws (22.8% vs 24.9% norm). UEFA Europa League homes won 47.5% of 4,414 games vs 44.9% across all 99,157 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly.
Why only 39%?
Because Viktoria Plzeň are the stronger side on our strength rating. The rest is the draw at 30% and Viktoria Plzeň at 31%.
Why the draw at 30%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 28.3%. These teams' recent games average 1.9 goals — a low-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 28.2% of 18,101. The goals environment adds 3.4 points to the draw. UEFA Europa League produces fewer draws than most, taking 2.1 points off.
What did we measure but not count?
FK Crvena Zvezda sit -0.51 goals per game under chance-quality. For home sides we could not receipt a bounce-back — the measured cells sit inside each other's noise bands — so this is noted and scores 0.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the FK Crvena Zvezda vs Viktoria Plzeň final score and result, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this UEFA Europa League fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
The full match report above covers the goals, key moments and stats. Explore more on the FK Crvena Zvezda and Viktoria Plzeň team pages or the UEFA Europa League page.

