Here is what Red Star earned for itself and for Serbian football by qualifying for Europa League

Illustration: Nikola Jovanovic; Photo: Tanjug/AP

Red Star (Crvena Zvezda) has advanced to the group stage of Europa League after eliminating Romanian champions Cluj in the playoff of this football competition. In the first leg, the Serbian champions celebrated at home 4-0, while in the second, the away game ended in a 2-1 victory, which took the Belgrade club to the group stage of the second strongest European competition.

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This is the fifth consecutive season that Red Star will play in a group stage, and considering that it previously had not played in Europea in the fall for ten years, that is certainly a success, although the ambition was to play in the Champions League this year.

Red Star lost a lot of money by being knocked out of those qualifiers by Sheriff, because just the playoff of the Champions League, regardless of the outcome, would have earned the club more than 11 million euros, while qualifying for the group stage as much as 20 million.

However, Red Star will have a chance for a "consolation prize" since Europa League group stage also brings solid money.

Only by qualifying, Red Star will receive 3,630,000 euros, while the additional bonus based on the ten-year coefficient is around 1,700,000 euros, so Red Star will collect around 5,350,000 euros for qualifying to the group phase.

They can also earn more there, because each victory in the group brings 630,000 euros, a draw 210,000 euros, while the first place in the group is awarded with 1,100,000 euros, and the second with 550,000 euros.

Red Star also contributed to the coefficient.

This victory brought one more point on the UEFA ranking list, so now Red Star has a record 34,500 points, and the club also added 250 points to the national coefficient.

Red Star will be able to additionally improve both coefficients playing in the group as well. In order to advance on the UEFA ranking list, they must first defend three points, which takes a victory and a draw, while each victory in the group brings 250 points to the national coefficient, while a draw is worth 125 points.

Serbia is well on its way to finishing the season among the 15 best countries. It is currently in 12th place and with additional points, it should almost certainly remain among the top 15, which would give Serbia a chance to have two teams in the 2023/24 season qualifications for the Champions League and one in Europa League.

(Telegraf.rs)