Crvena Zvezda hungry for action

Serbo-Montenegrin champions FK Crvena Zvezda are back in training under new coach Dušan Bajević as they look forward to the UEFA Champions League.

Mountain retreat
Bajević brought his players together on 12 June, kicking off with a week on the Serbian mountain of Zlatibor before moving on to Austria. They start their European campaign in the second qualifying round where they will encounter either Apollon Limassol FC or Cork City FC. With goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković joining French side FC Nantes Atlantique and defender Milan Dudić set to compete in the UEFA Champions League with SV Salzburg, Bajević has been on a signing spree with Brazilian Ely Tadeu and Bulgarian international Blagoy Georgiev swelling the ranks.

Local talent
'Red Star' have also taken on their share of local talent, recruiting right-back Aleksandar Pantić, left-back Dušan Andjelković and goalkeeper Saša Radivojević from FK Voždovac. The club have stated that reaching the group stage for the first time is their priority. FK Partizan, meanwhile, returned to training two weeks after their rivals with former defender Miodrag Ješić back as coach for the first time since 1999/00. He has retained much of last season's squad barring Miroslav Radić, who joined Legia Warszawa, and Zvonimir Vukić, who had been on loan from FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

Double target
While Crvena Zvezda were on Zlatibor, Partizan were 100km away on the Tara mountain. The Black and Whites are targeting a domestic double in their first term in the new Serbian league after finishing seven points behind Crvena Zvezda in 2005/06. Voždovac, who surprisingly came third last season, have named one-time Under-17 national coach Tomislav Sivić as their trainer. Mihajlo Ivanović, who brought Voždovac such good results, has succeeded Spaniard Jaime Bauza at FK Smederevo.

Club merger
Meanwhile, FK Budućnost Banavski Dvor and Zrenjanin side FK Proleter have merged to become a new top-flight team, FK Banat. Banat is the name of the region of northern Serbia which has Zrenjanin as its main city. The club will play at Proleter's Karadjordjev stadium. Banat will be one of 12 sides competing in the new campaign which is due to begin on 5 August. However, as the Football Association of Serbia implements a licensing system, several clubs are reported to be struggling to make the necessary financial guarantees.