Crvena zvezda lost heavily at U.S. Sassuolo Calcio in the UEFA Europa League Play-off First Leg on Thursday evening. A poor performance from start to finish and three conceded goals with no reply make the return game a nearly impossible task.
Ground: Mapei Stadium, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (NED)
Goalscorers: Berardi 17', Politano 41', Defrel 70'
Teams:
Sassuolo: Consigli, Gazzola, Cannavaro, Acerbi, Peluso, Biondini, Magnanelli, Duncan, Berardi, Defrel, Politano
Substitutes: Pegolo, Antei, Falcinelli, Sensi, Mazzitelli, Trotta, Letschert
Crvena zvezda: Kahriman, Cvetković, Le Tallec, Phibel, Ristić, Donald, Poletanović, Mouche, Katai, Ruiz, Vieira.
Substitutes: Supić, Petković, Aleksandar Luković, Plavšić, Srnić, Rendulić, Sikimić.
The red-and-whites were backed by a loud away contigent, but it didn't help them as they produced a poor performance. The home team were attacking from the start and Zvezda players couldn't cope.
Sassuolo took the lead after 17 minutes when Domenico Berardi tapped in after the ball had bounced off both Kahriman's posts.
Miodrag Božović's men were insecure on the ball, their passing was sloppy and they couldn't create anything going forward. The Italian side were great in the final third and they carved Crvena zvezda defence on numerous occasions. They doubled the lead when Politano exchanged passes on the edge of Zvezda box and finished easily past Kahriman.
Nothing much changed and Sassuolo continued to expose Zvezda's defensive weaknesses after the half-time break. Thomas Phibel cleared the ball off the line after a Berardi chipped shot.
Srđan Plavšić replaced the ineffective John Jairo Ruiz on 57 minutes, but it was the home side who continued to create chances and hit the woodwork.
But there was no let-off for Zvezda on 70 minutes when Defrel volleyed home expertly to make it 3-0.
Slavoljub Srnić and Predrg Sikimić were brought on late in the game, but Crvena zvezda couldn't test Consigli in the Sassuolo goal. The score remained 3-0 on a truly dreadful night for the Serbian champions.