Seol Young-woo shines as Red Star dominate Stuttgart 5-1 in Champions League

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Seol Young-woo shines as Red Star dominate Stuttgart 5-1 in Champions League

Red Star Belgrade fullback Seol Young-woo, right, dribbles the ball during a Champions League match against VfB Stuttgart at Red Star Stadium in Serbia on Wednesday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Red Star Belgrade fullback Seol Young-woo, right, dribbles the ball during a Champions League match against VfB Stuttgart at Red Star Stadium in Serbia on Wednesday. [AFP/YONHAP]

 
Red Star Belgrade fullback Seol Young-woo bagged his second straight assist in the Champions League during his side’s 5-1 win over VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday, contributing to Red Star’s biggest win in the tournament. 
 

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Seol started Wednesday’s fixture at Red Star Stadium in Serbia and set Rade Krunic up with a cross from the left flank to make it 2-1 in the 31st minute.
 
The goal marked a turnaround for Red Star, who had conceded the opening goal in the fifth minute to Ermedin Demirovic before leveling through a strike from Silas in the 12th minute.  
 
Red Star dominated the second half, with Mirko Ivanic heading in a goal in the 65th minute. Four minutes later substitute Nemanja Radonjic then fired home after a surging run into the Stuttgart box.
 
Radonjic scored in the 88th minute for Red Star’s biggest Champions League night, cutting inside the penalty box to find the back of the net and sealing a historic 5-1 win. 
 
Wednesday’s victory marked Red Star’s biggest win in the Champions League. The team has recorded two previous wins in the tournament: against Olympiakos in November 2018 and Liverpool in October 2019.
 
For Stuttgart, it was the Bundesliga club’s joint-heaviest loss in the Champions League, matching their 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in March 2010.
 
For Seol, it was his second Champions League win, following his first with Red Star in a qualifying round match against Bodo/Glimt in August. Wednesday’s assist also comes after his first assist in the tournament, recorded during a 5-2 loss to Barcelona on Nov. 6.   
 
Red Star Belgrade fullback Seol Young-woo, left, celebrates during a Champions League match agaisnt Barcelona at Red Star Stadium in Serbia on Wednesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Red Star Belgrade fullback Seol Young-woo, left, celebrates during a Champions League match agaisnt Barcelona at Red Star Stadium in Serbia on Wednesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

 
Seol has been a regular starter for Red Star in his first season with the team, tallying one goal and three assists across 18 appearances.
 
The Korean fullback has at least three more Champions League fixtures to play this season, with Red Star facing AC Milan on Dec. 11.  
 
Red Star need to secure wins in the remaining matches to keep their knockout stage hopes alive, as they sit in the elimination zone, ranked 31st in the 36-team league stage table.   
 
Under the revamped Champions League format, teams ranked below 24th exit the tournament, while those placed ninth to 24th enter playoffs to determine which sides advance to the round of 16. The top eight teams qualify directly for the round of 16.
 
Five other Korean players — Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich, Hwang In-beom of Feyenoord, Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain, Kim Min-su of Girona and Yang Hyun-jun of Celtic — are competing in this season’s Champions League. However, Seol will not face any of them in the remaining games.  
 
The first Korean derby of this Champions League season took place on Tuesday, with Bayern defeating PSG 1-0, thanks to a winner from Kim Min-jae.
 
Another potential Korean derby could happen in the league stage, with Bayern scheduled to face Feyenoord on Jan. 22 next year.
 
Bayern have had the best performance among teams featuring Korean players, sitting in 13th place, with Celtic in 20th, Feyenoord in 21st and PSG in 25th as of Thursday.
 
Liverpool lead the table with five wins from their opening five games.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]
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