The 2021–22 Red Star Belgrade season was the club's 16th in the Serbian SuperLiga and 76th consecutive season in the top flight of Yugoslav and Serbian football. The club participated in the Serbian SuperLiga, Serbian Cup, UEFA Europa League and qualifications for UEFA Champions League.
Summary
Pre-season The first signing for the new season was Austrian international Aleksandar Dragović who came in as a free agent from Germany where he spent last four and a half seasons playing for Bayer Leverkusen. Dragović, who also holds Serbian citizenship and therefore will not be counted as a foreign player in Serbian SuperLiga, signed three-year contract on 26 May 2021.Александар Драговић у Звезди! at crvenazvezdafk.com, 26-5-2021 Dragović was also only member of the club's squad that was selected in the final squad of his national team for the UEFA Euro 2020. He was starter in all 4 matches Austria played, being in the end eliminated in round of 16 by Italy.
The first departure was Nemanja Milunović who left the club after his two and a half season contract signed in December 2018 expired. During his spell at the club he played 87 matches in all competitions and scored 9 goals. He left the club to join Turkish side Alanyaspor as a free agent after winning three domestic titles and one domestic cup with Red Star.Nemanja Milunovic Aytemiz Alanyaspor'umuzda at www.alanyaspor.org.tr, 5-6-2021
On 7 June 2021 Željko Gavrić, who is a product of club's academy, made his international debut for Serbia national football team in a friendly match against Jamaica. Match ended in a 1–1 draw and he was a starter, being substituted at half time.Serbia vs Jamaica match report at fss.rs, 7-6-2021
On 10 June 2021 Aleksandar Katai, who arrived at the club and was one of the best players in the previous season, signed a new three-years contract extending his second spell at the club until summer of 2024.Катаи у Звезди до 2024. at crvenazvezdafk.com, 10-6-2021
Red Star officially started their pre-season with medical checks on 22 June 2021 on their home ground in Belgrade. Training camp will move to Austrian town Stegersbach between 24 June and 9 July 2021. Four friendly matches were played in Austria, against GAK, Aris, Argeș Pitești and Sturm Graz.
On 23 June 2021 Srđan Babić signed a new two-years contract until summer of 2023. He arrived in Red Star in summer of 2017 and spent previous season on loan at Portuguese side Famalicão.Бабић у Звезди до 2023. at crvenazvezdafk.com, 23-6-2021
On 24 June 2021 club announced that they would not be buying out contract of an Italian striker Diego Falcinelli. He spent previous season in the club on the loan from Italian side Bologna, scoring 13 goals. Club also announced that four young players were recalled from their loans and added to the first squad for the summer training camp: Lazetić, Matić and Nikola Stanković from Grafičar and Gordić from Mačva Šabac. After the end of summer training camp Matić was returned to Grafičar on another loan.
July On 1 July 2021 Red Star brought back Nenad Krstičić from Greek side AEK Athens. He spent his first spell at the club between 2017 and 2019 during which he played 64 games and scored 6 goals. Krstičić signed two-years contract with the club. On the same date club also signed young midfielder Petar Stanić from Železničar Pančevo. He signed a four-years contract.
On 3 July 2021 club announced that they signed three-years contract with Norwegian international forward Ohi Omoijuanfo. He will join the club for free at the end of his current contract with Norwegian side Molde in January 2022.
On 5 July 2021 two more signings were announced. First one was Serbian under-21 international Milan Ilić who arrived from Loznica after his previous contract expired. He signed three-years contract with the club, and was later loaned back to Loznica.Zvezda potpisala desnog beka: Ugovor na tri godine, sledi pozajmica at mozzartsport.com, 5-7-2021 02 ILIĆ Milan at prvaliga.rs, 7-8-2021 Second signing was French striker Loïs Diony. He arrived on one-year loan from Ligue 1 side Angers SCO with 1.2 million euros buyout option.
Serbian SuperLiga started on 16 July with home game against Vojvodina which ended in goalless draw with newcomer Dragović making a debut. By the end of the month Red Star played another home game against Mladost winning 1–0 and away game at Spartak winning 3–1 with a goalkeeper Miloš Gordić making a debut.
Red Star started their European season on 21 July 2021 in second qualifying round of UEFA Champions League. Draw for that round was held on 16 June 2021 and Red Star was drawn to play against Kazak champion Kairat who were the winners of first qualifying round fixture against Israeli champion Maccabi Haifa. This was the third time in history that Red Star and Kairat played against each other. Last time they played in 2015–16 Europa League qualifications, in fixtures that was won by Kairat. Red Star won the fixture 6–2 on aggregate, with first leg played in Kazakhstan ending in Kairat's victory 2–1 and second leg played in Belgrade ending in Red Star's 5–0 victory.
August During the August club played three matches in Serbian Superliga against Napredak, TSC and Čukarički winning all three of them, extending their unbeaten run since the start of the season to 6 games and winning run to 5 games. In last of those matches, against Čukarički, Petar Stanić made his debut for the club after coming in as a substitution.
In the third qualifying round of UEFA Champions League Red Star was drawn against Moldovan champion Sheriff Tiraspol who previously eliminated Armenian champion Alashkert. Fixture ended with Red Star being eliminated 1–2 on aggregate. First fixture was played on 3 August in Belgrade and ended in 1–1 draw, and second one was played on 10 August in Tiraspol and ended in 1–0 defeat. This was the first time in history that these two side played each other.
After being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League Red Star was transferred to 2021–22 UEFA Europa League play-off round. They were drawn to play against Romanian champions CFR Cluj who were previously also eliminated from Champions League by Swiss champion Young Boys. This was the first time in history that these two sides played each other. Red Star won 6–2 on aggregate and qualified for the Europa League group stage for a second consecutive season. First leg was played on 19 August in Belgrade and ended in 4–0 win for the club, while second leg was played on 26 August in Cluj-Napoca and ended in 2–1 win. In the first match Comorian forward Ben scored his 14th goal for the Red Star in international competitions making him top foreign scorer in the history of the club and fifth overall.
In draw that took place on 27 August in Istanbul Red Star was drawn to play in Europa League Group F together with Portuguese Cup winner Braga, Bulgarian champion Ludogorets Razgrad and Danish vice champion Midtjylland. This will be third time that club will play against Braga, second time against Ludogorets and first time against Midtjylland. Matches in the group stage will be played between September and December.
On 12 August, two days after being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League, club sold young winger Željko Gavrić to Hungarian champions Ferencvárosi for an estimated fee of €1.2 million.
On 13 August 2021 Milan Pavkov extended his contract with Red Star to the summer of 2024.
On 30 August 2021 Serbian defender Srđan Babić was loaned to the Segunda División side Almería with a buy out option at the end of the season. On the same day club signed Dutch forward Richairo Živković. Former Netherlands under-21 international player arrived from Chinese side Changchun Yatai and signed three-years contract.Ришаиро Живковић у Звезди at crvenazvezdafk.com, 30-8-2021
September During the September's international window Red Star had 4 first team players who received call-ups for their national teams to play in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification. Goalkeeper Milan Borjan made three caps for Canada and conceded two goals. Defender Miloš Degenek was part of the Australian team but failed to make an appearance, while another defender Aleksandar Dragović made two more caps for Austria making him second most capped player in the history of Austria. And Guélor Kanga made two caps for the Gabon. Besides those four players Ben made two more caps for Comores in friendly games scoring a hat-trick in one of them, Miloš Gordić, Strahinja Eraković, Nikola Stanković and Marko Lazetić represented Serbian youth teams and Richard Odada who plays on a loan at Metalac made his international debut for Kenya.Učinak Zvezdinih reprezentativaca at crvenazvezdafk.com, 9-9-2021
Three matches were played in Serbian SuperLiga. In the first of them, 3–0 victory against Proleter on 11 September, Richairo Živković made his debut for the club coming in as a half time substitution. Aleksandar Katai scored two goals in the same match which earned him the title of the player of the round. On 19 September first Eternal derby of the season was played in an away game against club's arch rivals Partizan. This was 165th time that those two teams clashed against each other in the league, and 203rd in total. Match ended in 1–1 draw, with only goal for the Red Star being scored by Aleksandar Katai.Реми у дербију at crvenazvezdafk.com, 19-9-2021 In the last match of the month Red Star won an away game against Novi Pazar 4–0.Нови Пазар - Црвена звезда 0:4 (0:3) at crvenazvezdafk.com, 26-9-2021
Club started group stage of the Europa League with a 2–1 home game win against Portuguese side Braga. This was the fourth time these two sides played against each other, and the first time ever that Red Star managed to be victorious. Second group match was an away game against Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad on 30 September. Match ended with Red Star's 1–0 win. This was the third match between those two sides, and the first that Red Star was victorious.Лудогорец - Црвена звезда 0:1 (0:0) at crvenazvezdafk.com, 30-9-2021
October During the October's international window Red Star had three first team players who received call-ups for Serbia national under-21 football team to play in the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification - goalkeeper Miloš Gordić who played both scheduled games and conceded four goals, defender Strahinja Eraković who played one game against Armenia and scored his first goal for Serbia under-21s and midfielder Petar Stanić who failed to make an appearance. Besides those three players Guélor Kanga played two games for the Gabon and Richard Odada played two games for Kenya in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.Звездин трио у младој репрезентацији at crvenazvezdafk.com, 1-10-2021 Учинак Звездиних репрезентативаца at crvenazvezdafk.com, 13-10-2021
Only one game was played in Europa League, an away match against Danish side Midtjylland on 21 October. Match ended in a 1-1 draw with only goal being scored by Mirko Ivanić who signed new contract with the club until 2025 just one day after this match. This was first time in history that these two teams played each other.Мидтјиланд – Црвена звезда 1:1 (0:0) at crvenazvezdafk.com, 21-10-2021 Иванић до 2025! at crvenazvezdafk.com, 22-10-2021
Besides Ivanić two more players extended their contracts with the club during the October, both products of club's youth academy. Defender Strahinja Eraković extended his contract until summer of 2025Eraković produžio ugovor do 2025. godine at crvenazvezdafk.com, 25-10-2021 and goalkeeper Miloš Gordić extended his contract until summer of 2023 with an option for another two-years extension.Gordić produžio ugovor sa Zvezdom at crvenazvezdafk.com, 26-10-2021