Dejan Stanković's second spell in charge of Red Star Belgrade appears to be over almost as abruptly as his first. ONE reports, citing Serbian media, that Crvena zvezda's board moved to dismiss the coach within hours of Hapoel Beer Sheva eliminating the Serbian champions from Champions League qualifying.
The elimination was completed on Tuesday night at the Rajko Mitić Stadium, where Red Star lost 2-0 to Hapoel Beer Sheva in the second leg of their third qualifying round tie, going down 3-0 on aggregate after also losing 1-0 in the first leg the previous week.
Stanković did not even see out the match. According to ONE, he was sent off in the 57th minute for furiously contesting a decision by the Swedish referee, then turned toward Red Star's own supporters as he left the technical area, mocking the whistles raining down from the stands. Serbian reports cited by ONE go further still, alleging he also spat in the referee's direction as he departed.
With qualification lost and his own conduct under scrutiny, Stanković reportedly said his goodbyes to the Red Star squad in the dressing room straight after the final whistle — read in Belgrade as an unmistakable signal that the end had come. The club's board called an emergency meeting for the following day to address what local media described as a full-blown crisis.
As of ONE's report, Red Star Belgrade had issued no official statement confirming a dismissal, and the club's own channels made no mention of a change in the dugout. But the direction of travel described by Serbian outlets, including B92 and Mozzart Sport, pointed toward a departure the club had yet to announce publicly.
For Stanković, it would be a bitterly familiar way to lose the job at the club where he made his name as a player. He walked away from his first spell in charge in August 2022 after Red Star were eliminated from the same Champions League qualifying stage by another Israeli club, Maccabi Haifa, beaten by a stoppage-time own goal that summed up years of continental frustration for the Serbian side.
He returned to Red Star in December 2025, restored to the post that had made him a hero in Belgrade, only for this Champions League qualifying campaign to end the same way it had before — eliminated by an Israeli opponent, this time Hapoel Beer Sheva.
For Hapoel Beer Sheva, the aggregate scoreline stands as a landmark result: eliminating one of the biggest institutions in Balkan football and denying a multiple Serbian champion a place in the next round of Champions League qualifying, a result that will be celebrated in Israeli football long after the coaching fallout in Belgrade is settled.
Red Star's board meeting was expected to decide not only Stanković's fate but the club's direction after a result that costs it the prestige — and the revenue — of another shot at the Champions League group stage.
