"At least we scored more goals against Barcelona than Real Madrid" - Red Star Belgrade star aims cheeky dig at Los Blancos after UCL defeat
Red Star Belgrade midfielder Timi Max Elsnik poked fun at Real Madrid after his club were thrashed 5-2 by Barcelona at home in the Champions League on Wednesday (November 6). Elsnik said while his side tried to put up a fight against Hansi Flick’s men but couldn’t, they can be proud that they scored more goals than Real Madrid.
Red Star Belgrade and Barcelona locked horns on Wednesday in the fourth game of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League at Rajko Mitić Stadium. As expected, La Blaugrana secured an emphatic victory against the Serbian SuperLiga leaders.
Since losing 4-2 against Osasuna in the La Liga in September, Barcelona have won their subsequent matches, walloping all their opponents and scoring at least three goals in each match. Real Madrid suffered one of the worst defeats from Hansi Flick’s boys as they were whitewashed 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Despite Crvena Zvezda losing, Max Elsnik was pleased that his side was able to score against the Catalan club, a feat that Real Madrid couldn’t achieve in the El Clasico. After the match, the midfielder said, as quoted by Spanish publication Sport:
"We have to congratulate Barça on the win; they have some of the best players in the world. We tried to compete, but at least we can say we scored more goals against Barça than Real Madrid did."
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick says he wants his team to continue their goal-scoring streak after 5-2 win against Red Star Belgrade
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick is hoping that his team can continue their impressive goal-scoring form after demolishing Red Star Belgrade 5-2 away from home in the Champions League. After the match, the German manager waxed lyrical about the performances of his players and hoped that they can continue to replicate it in other matches this season.
Despite not topping the Champions League table, Hansi Flick’s side has scored the most goals in the group stages so far (15). They have also set a new record as they have scored 55 goals in their first 16 games of a single season in all competitions for the first time in their history. It surpassed 54 goals scored in 1950/51 under Ferdinand Daucik). Flick is hoping his team can keep up the goal-scoring form. He said (via ESPN):
"The performances are really good. I really enjoy the team and I think the results, they speak their own language. What we are doing, really focused in every match, you can see it. [The players] are doing good about the match plan we have. They realised it on the pitch and this is good to see.
"I hope [we can maintain it] -- for sure we have the confidence. Not just because of this match, but because of the whole season we have played [until] now. The team is doing great because they love to play football and they love to compete against any team. The best of the best, they like to compete against every team. We want to be some time [in this form] and we are working hard for that."
Barcelona will next be in action against Real Sociedad in the La Liga on Sunday, November 10.