Crvena Zvezda vs Pafos Preview & Prediction | 2025-26 UEFA Champions League | Playoffs
by Alex Lawes ·
Updated
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Crvena Zvezda are the Serbian champions and are looking to earn themselves league phase football in the UEFA Champions League as they take on the Cypriot champions.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – Not televised
How to watch online: UK – Discovery+ / US – Paramount+
Key Stats
- This is the first UEFA competition match between these teams.
- Crvena Zvezda have won three and drawn six of their previous nine UEFA matches against teams from Cyprus. The most recent encounter was a one-legged tie against Omonoia in the third qualifying round of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League when they were eliminated on penalties (2-4) following a 1-1 draw. That was their first encounter against a Cypriot team since they won 6-5 on penalties against Omonoia in the third qualifying round of the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League after both legs finished goalless.
- Crvena Zvezda are aiming for a third successive participation in the UEFA Champions League proper. Last season they reached the league phase with a 3-2 aggregate victory against Bodø/Glimt in the play-off round (1-2 a, 2-0 h).
- Crvena Zvezda have won three of their last four ties in the UEFA Champions League play-off round.
- Crvena Zvezda have won three and drawn one of their four matches in UEFA Champions League qualifying this season.
- Crvena Zvezda have opened the scoring in all their four matches in UEFA Champions League qualifying this season.
- Pafos are facing a Serbian team in a UEFA competition for the first time.
- Pafos are competing in the UEFA Champions League for the first time this season, they reached the UEFA Conference League round of 16 on their UEFA competition debut last season.
- Pafos are aiming to be the third team from Cyprus to reach the UEFA Champions League proper after APOEL (four times) and Anorthosis Famagusta (once). The last participation was by APOEL in 2017/18.
- Pafos were crowned Cypriot champions for the first time in 2024/25.
- Pafos are unbeaten in four UEFA Champions League qualifying matches this season (W3 D1), winning the last three without conceding a goal.
- Pafos won the away leg of their previous two ties in UEFA Champions League qualifying this season by one goal to nil (vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv 2QR and vs Dynamo Kyiv 3QR).
Crvena Zvezda vs Pafos prediction
In Europe so far, Crvena Zvezda come into this one on the back of hammering the Lincoln Red Imps by six goals to one on aggregate in the second qualifying round before then easing past Lech Poznan by four goals to two on aggregate. The Serbians are the dominant force domestically and they have started with four successive victories.
They now face a Pafos side that are big spending and have brought in the likes of David Luiz and Mislav Orsic this summer. The Cypriot champions edged past Dynamo Kyiv in the third qualifying round after beating Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the second qualifying round as they chase a first ever UEFA Champions League qualification.
Pafos have played on neutral territory for their away games in Europe so far and this is the first hostile crowd they will have faced and Red Star are favourites for this one.
Crvena Zvezda vs Pafos tip: Crvena Zvezda to win
