Despite Cham Assist: Conference League Poor Start for Red Star

In the "early fixtures" of the first matchday of the UEFA Conference League, five Austrians were in action with their respective teams.

Marko Arnautovic and Muhammed Cham, playing for Red Star Belgrade, suffered a setback to begin their international season. They lost 2-3 against Lugano.

The two Austrian legionnaires initially started on the bench for the Serbian serial champions against FC Lugano.

Red Star Squanders Lead

The match in Switzerland took a long time to get going. Both teams tried to avoid mistakes and played cautiously.

Fans at the AIL Arena had to wait until the 25th minute for the first moment of excitement – but then, to the dismay of the Serbian champions, the deadlock was broken. Switzerland's Albian Ajeti put the hosts ahead out of nowhere after a fine pass (25.).

However, the response from Arnautovic's teammates didn't take long. Timi Elsnik finished off their first notable attack to equalize for Red Star after just over half an hour (32.).

First Cham Assist, Then Bitter End

In the 64th minute, Muhammed Cham was brought into the game and immediately made an impact. Just three minutes after his substitution, the 26-year-old Viennese player set up the go-ahead goal scored by captain Rade Krunic (67.).

However, the Serbs suffered a bitter blow in the closing stages. In the 84th minute, Red Star conceded the equalizer, and just a few minutes later, the Swiss converted a penalty through Anto Grgic (90.) to make it 3-2.

No Joy for Kreidl

Goalkeeper Johannes Kreidl was challenged with Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS) against Trabzonspor.

The evening started as unfavourably as possible for the Tyrolean. He had to pick the ball out of his net for the first time after just three minutes. Shortly before half-time, Kreidl was beaten by Mohamed Salah. Ultimately, the Turks won 4-2.

Stefan Savic was on the pitch from the start with FK Borac Banja Luka against Panathinaikos Athens. The Bosnians were beaten 2-1 in the Greek capital.

Dario Maresic played the full match for Hajduk Split against Ajax Amsterdam. The Croats celebrated a 2-1 victory against the traditional Dutch club in front of their home crowd.