Red Star Belgrade are set to appoint former Liverpool winger as their new head coach.
Dejan Stankovic has left Red Star Belgrade following their Champions League qualifying defeat to Hapoel Be’er Sheva on Wednesday night.
Red Star lost the second leg 2-0 after suffering a 1-0 defeat in the first leg, once again missing out on the Champions League group stage. Austrian star Marko Arnautovic came on as a second-half substitute, but the focus was on head coach Stankovic.
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The 47-year-old lost his cool during the defeat and was shown a red card after a heated exchange with referee Glenn Nyberg. Shortly after the match, Stankovic announced his resignation to the players in the dressing room, while Red Star also cancelled the customary post-match press conference.
The club have now moved quickly to replace him with former Liverpool winger Albert Riera. According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Riera has signed his contract to become the new Red Star Belgrade head coach.
Romano posted on X: “Albert Riera has just signed his contract as new Red Star Belgrade head coach. Deal completed for former Eintracht Frankfurt coach, all done with his agent Andy Bara from Niagara agency.”
Despite missing out on Champions League qualification, Riera could still lead the Serbian side into the Europa League. Riera parted ways with Eintracht Frankfurt following their final-day draw with VfB Stuttgart in May.
The 44-year-old was appointed in January after Frankfurt’s inconsistent start to the season under Dino Toppmöller but was unable to secure a top-seven Bundesliga finish.
The result against Stuttgart meant Frankfurt missed out on European football for the first time since the 2020/21 season, with Freiburg taking seventh place and a spot in the UEFA Conference League.
Former Olimpija Ljubljana, Celje and Bordeaux boss Riera won just four of his 14 Bundesliga games in charge of Frankfurt, drawing five and losing five.
Frankfurt were seventh and two points ahead of Freiburg after Matchday 29 but finished eighth after collecting just one point from their final five matches.