SPORT

A PAINFUL END TO THE EUROPEAN FAIRYTALE: Zvezda fell after extra time, Lille punished every mistake at a packed Marakana!

by Serbian Times27. February 2026.27. February 2026.

Zvezda were defeated by Lille 0:2 after extra time in the Europa League second leg and were eliminated from further competition with an aggregate score of 1:2.

What a match we witnessed at the Marakana, incredible. Ever since Dejan Stanković arrived this winter, he brought new freshness to Crvena zvezda, a new shine to this team, and many began dreaming of great achievements in the Europa League with him. And they had reason to. A dominant match against Malmö, then against Lille in France as well, but… Not all fairytales have a happy ending.

Zvezda entered this match after a perfect performance in France, where they celebrated a 1:0 victory. The red-and-whites had momentum, further boosted by a convincing 3:0 derby win over Partizan, but… It cannot last forever.

Lille clearly recognized the mistakes from 180 minutes of football against Zvezda. The Dogues realized where they had gone wrong and what they had done when they were defeated twice by the red-and-whites (both times 1:0), so they corrected the necessary things this time, which proved enough to secure victory. Simply put, Lille did excellent scouting, they cut Enem out of the game, and when Arnautović came on, they allowed him to do what he wanted, but they neutralized the others.

Then, the Dogues scored both goals through attacks down the left side, where they sensed that Tiknizjan was the weak link in defense.

The hero was Olivier Giroud in the fifth minute, who unsettled the Zvezda team, and that unrest did not subside until the end of the first half. Zvezda simply looked like a rabbit in front of these Dogues from Lille, and everything changed from halftime onward.

They had their chances, admittedly not too serious, but they had them. The match went into extra time, and there Ngoj set the final score, taking advantage of a major mistake by Nair Tiknizjan.

Zvezda are out, and they certainly have plenty to regret. This match and the situation will be talked about for a long time.