Elevate October 2023 | Air Serbia

Sport / Sports

U Evroligu se na velika vrata vraća Crvena zvezda, koja će najveće rivale, takođe ugostiti u „Areni“ Red Star is now also making its return to the EuroLeague in a big way, and this season will also host its biggest rivals at the Arena

T he land of Novak Đok- ović, Ivana Vuleta, Nikola Jokić and tro- phy-winning women volleyball players has become a genuine mecca for lov- ers of sport, and not only for the “locals”, but rather also for fans from across Europe and around the planet. And why wouldn't it be - when this one place awaits top basketball and football competi- tions, in the largest indoor venue in the Balkans, the Arena, and at the legendary Marakana Stadium? Partizan broke records match after match in last season’s Euro- League. Ultimately, when all at- tendances are added up, Belgrade’s black & whites were watched by a total of 340,816 spectators! Rank- ing second in attendance figures, with almost 80,000 fewer fans, was Žalgiris Kaunus. If this still isn’t enough for you to form a com- plete picture, perhaps this fact will help: Real Madrid and Barcelona were watched in their halls by a combined total of approximate- ly 290,000 lovers of basketball. Red Star is now also making its return to the EuroLeague fairy tale

al stars in its ranks, such as Er- ling Haaland, Julián Álvarez, Jack Grealish and many more. The squad of Manchester’s “Cityzens” is worth 1.18 billion euros and will be the most expen- sive team to have visited Belgrade, probably since at least 2003, when Partizan welcomed a Real Madrid team to its Humska Street stadi- um that included the likes of Da- vid Beckham, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Carlos. Luis Fi- go, Iker Casillas... And there’s no need to keep listing stars! Visitors to our capital city will thus have an opportunity to watch Barcelona, Real Madrid or Olympiacos competing in the caul- dron of the Arena one day, then the very next day they can be part of the football spectacle at Marakana, together with anoth- er 55,000 fans. And once you’ve felt that roar, once you’ve been carried away on a wave of cheer- ing fans, there’s simply no going back. Your only desire will be to keep returning time and again to Belgrade, which will never leave you feeling apathetic, including when it comes to sport.

in a big way, and this season will also host its biggest rivals at the Arena, instead of Pionir Hall. This means that, from week to week, we will have at least 20,000 fans at basketball matches in the city, decked out in either red & white or black & white garb. The new Euro- League season gets underway on 5 th October, with the eternal der- by between Partizan and Red Star to be played on 26 th October, pro- viding an opportunity for you to be part of this basketball specta- cle. Whether you live in Paris or New York, one direct Air Serbia flight is enough for you to be able to watch one of the 34 matches that the two Belgrade clubs will play at the Arena. Belgrade’s “Sporting bonan- za” will not pass without the best, most talented and most expen- sive football clubs. After a four- year break, the EUFA Champions League is returning to Marakana Stadium, where Red Star will host Switzerland’s Young Boys, Leipzig – the only team in Germany’s Bun- desliga that can rival Bayern – and Manchester City, the team that’s defending its title and has glob-

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