Budućnost–Crvena Zvezda basketball rivalry explained

Wide:	300
Budućnost–Crvena zvezda rivalry
Team1:	Budućnost
Team2:	Crvena zvezda
Sport:	Basketball
City Or Region:	Western Balkans
First Contested:	7 December 1980
Mostrecent:	16 April 2022 Budućnost 76, Crvena zvezda 80
Stadiums:	Aleksandar Nikolić Hall, Belgrade Morača Sports Center, Podgorica
Total:	108 meetings
Most Wins:	Crvena zvezda
Alltimerecord:	Crvena zvezda, 62–45
Regularseason:	Crvena zvezda, 46–36
Postseason:	Crvena zvezda, 13–9
Largestvictory:	+43 Crvena zvezda 97, Budućnost 54 14 April 2019
Currentstreak:	Crvena zvezda, 3
Section Header:	Finals history
Section Info:	2018 ABA League Finals: Budućnost won, 3–1 2019 ABA League Finals: Crvena zvezda won, 3–2 2021 ABA League Finals: Crvena zvezda won, 3–2 ---- 2018 ABA SuperCup Final: Crvena zvezda won
Map Location:	Serbia and Montenegro
Map Width:	290
Map Label2:	Budućnost
Map Label2 Position:	top
Map Mark2:	Blue pog.svg
Map Label1:	Crvena zvezda
Map Label1 Position:	bottom
Map Mark1:	Red pog.svg

The Budućnost–Crvena Zvezda basketball rivalry is an Adriatic League (ABA League) rivalry between Budućnost and Crvena zvezda. While the two teams have played each other since Budućnost joined the Yugoslav League in 1980, their rivalry began to develop in the 1990s through the Serbian-Montenegrin League and reached its peak in the Adriatic League during the late 2010s and early 2020s with 3-in-a-row League Finals (2018, 2019, and 2021).

History

1980s: Yugoslavia

The first time these two teams actually met was in 1980 when Budućnost qualified for the Yugoslav League for the first time in history. The first derby finished 105–91 in Zvezda's favour. Generally, the rivalry wasn’t prominent in the Yugoslav era since both teams had fluctuations in their results in the 80’s, thus they didn’t have the status as constant contenders for the title.

Head-to-head ranking

	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	92
1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1														1			1
2														2											2			2											2	2		2			2		2
3												3	3						3			3	3			3			3								3
4											4										4									4								4						4
5																															5				5	5					5
6															6	6																6											6
7																																		7						7
8																	8	8		8													8			8	8		8		8
9																																										9				9
10																																						10								10	10
11
12																																											12
13
14

1992–2006: Serbia and Montenegro

Head-to-head ranking

	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06
1	1	1				1	1	1	1
2							2			2				2
3			3	3		3		3			3	3
4					4						4		4	4
5												5
6				6
7										7			7
8
9
10	10								10
11		11
12					12
13
14

2003 onwards: Adriatic

Head-to-head ranking

	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
1														1	1	1	1	1		1	1
2												2					2	2	(2)	2
3		3		3	3								3	3	3				(3)		3
4			4					4		4	4					4
5			5			5	5		5			5	5
6						6	6	6
7
8
9	9								9
10											10
11
12
13									13
14			14
15
16

Finals summaries

2018 ABA League Finals

This was the first ABA League Finals series between Budućnost and Crvena Zvezda, and the first Finals of any competition to occur between Budućnost and Crvena Zvezda since their first meeting in 1980. Budućnost hadn't made an appearance in the ABA Finals prior to 2018. Budućnost won the championship, 3–1. Nemanja Gordić of Budućnost was named the Finals MVP.^[1]

2018 ABA SuperCup Final

The Budućnost and Crvena Zvezda would meet the six months after the 2018 ABA League Finals in Laktaši, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Crvena Zvezda would defeat Budućnost and win their first ABA SuperCup title.^[2] The Zvezda had an 89–75 victory,^[3] while Budućnost lost its second Supercup Final.

The Zvezda led 48–23 in the middle of the second quarter and sustained to 57–32 to lead by 25 at halftime. As the first half ended, so did the second half. Buducnost took advantage of the relaxation of the Belgraders in the last quarter and mitigated the defeat to a more acceptable 14 points difference.^{[4] [5] [6]}

The Zvezda's Mouhammad Faye had 14 points and four rebounds, and Maik Zirbes added 13 points and five rebounds. Joe Ragland recorded 10 points and the game-high 7 assists, while Stratos Perperoglou and Ognjen Dobrić both had 12 points off the bench. Budućnost was led by Filip Barović with 19 points and five rebounds of the bench, and Earl Clark added 11 points.^[7] Faye was named the MVP Award.^[8]

2019 ABA League Finals

The 2019 ABA League Finals saw Budućnost and Crvena Zvezda meet for the second straight season. Crvena Zvezda won Games 1 and 2 in Belgrade before the series moved to Podgorica. While Budućnost won Game 3 and 4 at home, the Zvezda took Game 5 at home, earning their fourth championship and their fourth in five seasons.

Game 2 was a more one-sided affair, with the Zvezda winning 107–69. Game 5 was a blowout victory for the Zvezda, 97–54, led by K. C. Rivers with the game-high 21 points. The Zvezda's Billy Baron was named the Finals MVP.^[9]

2021 ABA League Finals

The 2019 ABA League Finals saw Budućnost and Crvena Zvezda meet for the third straight season. Crvena Zvezda won Games 1 and 2 in Belgrade before the series moved to Podgorica. While Budućnost won Game 3 and 4 at home, the Zvezda took Game 5 at home, earning their fifth championship and their fifth in seven seasons.

Head-to-head

Matches

The following are the matches between Budućnost and Crvena Zvezda in the Adriatic League:

Season	At Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda – Budućnost)		At Podgorica (Budućnost – Crvena Zvezda)		SuperCup (Budućnost – Crvena Zvezda)	Total	Notes
	Season	Playoffs	Season	Playoffs
	Crvena Zvezda did not participate	Not held	—	—
	Budućnost did not participate		—	Crvena Zvezda lose Semifinals
	77–75		—	84–88	—	Crvena Zvezda 2–0	Crvena Zvezda lose Semifinals
	91–72		—	81–76	—	Tie 1–1	—
	Budućnost did not participate		—	Crvena Zvezda lose Semifinals
	95–81		—	89–88	—	Tie 1–1	—
	115–114		—	79–74	—	Tie 1–1	—
	70–63		—	64–62	—	Tie 1–1	Crvena Zvezda lose Semifinals
	77–88		—	71–63	—	Budućnost 2–0	—
	63–55		—	89–75	—	Tie 1–1	Budućnost lose Semifinals
	63–57		—	79–64	—	Tie 1–1	Budućnost lose Semifinals
	79–63		—	72–63	—	Tie 1–1	Crvena Zvezda lose Finals
	74–64		—	62–60	—	Tie 1–1	Crvena Zvezda lose Semifinals
	83–69		—	76–77	—	Crvena Zvezda 2–0	Crvena Zvezda win ABA League Budućnost lose Semifinals
	83–62		—	68–54	—	Tie 1–1	Crvena Zvezda win ABA League Budućnost lose Semifinals
	82–66		82–67, 82–59	54–77	63–57	Crvena Zvezda 4–1	Crvena Zvezda win ABA League Budućnost lose Semifinals
	75–79	76–80, 69–59	92–86	78–77, 77–73	Crvena Zvezda did not participate	Budućnost 5–1	Budućnost win ABA League Crvena Zvezda lose Finals Budućnost lose ABA SuperCup Final
	86–72	91–72, 107–69, 97–54	71–87	80–72, 84–80	75–89	Crvena Zvezda 6–2	Crvena Zvezda win ABA League Crvena Zvezda win ABA SuperCup Budućnost lose Finals Budućnost lose ABA SuperCup Final
	81–89	Canceled	20–0	Canceled		Budućnost 2–0	Season canceled
	65–67	82–78, 85–79, 67–60	83–63	75–71, 81–80	Canceled	Budućnost 4–3	Crvena Zvezda win ABA League Budućnost lose Finals
	71–63	—	76–80	—	Not held	Crvena Zvezda 2–0	Crvena Zvezda win ABA League Budućnost lose Semifinals
	69–65	93–55,	56–76	56–97		Crvena Zvezda 4–0	TBD

Matches in defunct competitions

1980–1992: Yugoslavia

The following were the matches between Budućnost and Crvena Zvezda in the Yugoslav competitions:

1992–2006: Serbia and Montenegro

The following were the matches between Budućnost and Crvena Zvezda in Yugoslav/Serb–Montenegrin competitions:

+Matches
Season	At Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda – Budućnost)		At Podgorica (Budućnost – Crvena Zvezda)		Yugoslav Cup / Radivoj Korać Cup (Crvena Zvezda – Partizan)	Total	Notes
	Season	Post-season	Season	Post-season
	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0–0	Crvena Zvezda win League
	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0–0	Crvena Zvezda win League Crvena Zvezda lose Cup Final
	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0–0	—
	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0–0	Budućnost win Cup
	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0–0	—
	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0–0	Crvena Zvezda win League Budućnost win Cup
	N/A	Not held	N/A	Not held	N/A	0–0	Budućnost win League
1999–00	N/A	—	N/A	—	N/A	Budućnost 2–0	Budućnost win League
	85–89	—	92–73	—	—	Budućnost 2–0	Budućnost win both titles
	N/A	—	N/A	—	N/A	0–0	Budućnost lose both finals
	N/A	—	N/A	—	—	0–0	—
	N/A	—	N/A	—	—	0–0	Crvena Zvezda win Cup
	N/A	—	N/A	—	—	0–0	—
	N/A	—	N/A	—	—	0–0	Crvena Zvezda win Cup

Statistics

Note: Last updated on

Competitions	Games played	Budućnost wins	Crvena Zvezda wins
Defunct competitions^[10]
Domestic Leagues	46	19	27
Domestic Playoffs	5	1	4
Domestic Playouts	2	0	2
Yugoslav Cup	1	1	0
Current competitions
Adriatic League	38	17	21
Adriatic Playoffs	17	8	9
Adriatic SuperCup	1	0	1
Total	110	45	64

Common individuals

Players

The following players have played for both Budućnost and Crvena zvezda in their careers:

• Milutin Aleksić – Crvena zvezda (2000–2002); Budućnost (2002–2004)
• Dragan Apić – Crvena zvezda (2017); Budućnost (2020–2021)
• Nemanja Arnautović – Budućnost (2010); Crvena zvezda (2010)
• Boris Bakić – Budućnost (2003–2004); Crvena zvezda (2007–2011)
• Goran Bošković – Budućnost (1998–1999); Crvena zvezda (1999–2000)
• Omar Cook – Crvena zvezda (2007–2008); Budućnost (2014–2016)
• Goran Ćakić – Budućnost (2002); Crvena zvezda (2002–2003)
• Tadija Dragićević – Crvena zvezda (2004–2005, 2006–2010, 2014); Budućnost (2015–2016)
• Vladislav Dragojlović – Crvena zvezda (2003–2006); Budućnost (2007–2008)
• Igor Đaletić – Budućnost (1989–1990, 1992–1993, 1995–1997); Crvena zvezda (2002)
• Vladislav Dragojlović – Crvena zvezda (1978–1980); Budućnost (1984–1985)
• Aleksandar Gilić – Crvena zvezda (1988–1990, 1993–1996); Budućnost (1996–1997)
• Nikola Ivanović – Budućnost (2011–2015, 2017–2021); Crvena zvezda (2021–present)
• Marko Jagodić-Kuridža – Crvena zvezda (2019–2021); Budućnost (2021–present)
• Goran Jeretin – Crvena zvezda (2002–2006); Budućnost (2006, 2009–2010)
• Nikola Jestratijević – Crvena zvezda (1994–1995, 1998–2000, 2004); Budućnost (2001–2002)
• Zoran Jovanović – Crvena zvezda (1987–1993); Budućnost (1997–1998)
• Siniša Kovačević – Crvena zvezda (1996–1997); Budućnost (2002–2003)
• Vladimir Kuzmanović – Crvena zvezda (1997–1998); Budućnost (1999–2002)
• Marko Lekić – Crvena zvezda (2008); Budućnost (2009–2010)
• Hassan Martin – Budućnost (2019–2020); Crvena zvezda (2022–present)
• Stevan Milošević – Budućnost (2004–2007); Crvena zvezda (2008)
• Strahinja Milošević – Crvena zvezda (2010–2011); Budućnost (2012–2013)

• Nenad Mišanović – Crvena zvezda (2005–2008); Budućnost (2008–2009)
• Luka Mitrović – Crvena zvezda (2012–2017; 2021–present); Budućnost (2020–2021)
• Aleksej Nešović – Crvena zvezda (2002–2004); Budućnost (2010–2011)
• Saša Obradović – Crvena zvezda (1987–1993, 1993–1994, 1999–2000); Budućnost (2000–2001)
• Alen Omić – Crvena zvezda (2018); Budućnost (2018)
• Luka Pavićević – Budućnost (1984–1985), Crvena zvezda (1995–1996, 1998–1999, 2002–2003)
• Stevan Peković – Budućnost (1990–1992, 1997–1998), Crvena zvezda (1998–1999, 2001–2002)
• Igor Perović – Crvena zvezda (1996–1998); Budućnost (2001–2002)
• Ivo Petović – Budućnost (1981–1983); Crvena zvezda (1983–1990)
• Igor Rakočević – Crvena zvezda (1994–2000, 2003–2004, 2012–2013); Budućnost (2000–2002)
• Boris Savović – Budućnost (2009–2010, 2015, 2016–2017); Crvena zvezda (2012–2013)
• Marko Simonović – Budućnost (2008–2011); Crvena zvezda (2012–2014, 2015–2017, 2020–2022)
• Bojan Subotić – Crvena zvezda (2011–2013); Budućnost (2013–2017)
• Vujadin Subotić – Budućnost (1999–2000); Crvena zvezda (2004–2006, 2008, 2010–2011)
• Vladimir Tica – Crvena zvezda (1998–2003, 2007); Budućnost (2011–2012)
• Dejan Tomašević – Crvena zvezda (1990–1995); Budućnost (1999–2001)
• Željko Topalović – Crvena zvezda (1997–1998, 1999–2000); Budućnost (1998–1999)
• Milenko Topić – Crvena zvezda (1997–1999); Budućnost (1999–2001)
• Čedomir Vitkovac – Crvena zvezda (2003–2006); Budućnost (2009–2010, 2011–2015)
• Slavko Vraneš – Budućnost (2001–2003, 2004–2007); Crvena zvezda (2004)
• Aaron White – Crvena zvezda (2021–2022); Budućnost (2022)
• Marcus Williams – Crvena zvezda (2014–2015); Budućnost (2016–2017)

The following players have played for one club in youth system career and for rival club in senior career:

• Vladimir Micov – Crvena zvezda (youth system), Budućnost (senior team)

The following players have played for both Crvena zvezda and Partizan in their youth system careers:

• Andrija Vuković – Budućnost than Crvena zvezda

Coaches

The following head coaches have coached both Budućnost and Crvena zvezda in their careers:

• Vlade Đurović – Crvena zvezda (1986–1988); Budućnost (2002)
• Momir Milatović – Budućnost (N/A); Crvena zvezda (1999)
• Miroslav Nikolić – Budućnost (1998–2000); Crvena zvezda (2001, 2002)
• Dejan Radonjić – Budućnost (2005–2013); Crvena zvezda (2013–2017, 2021–2022)

The following assistant coaches have coached both Budućnost and Crvena zvezda in their careers:

• Nikola Birač – Crvena zvezda (2011–2017, 2020–2022); Budućnost (2022–present)

Others

The following individuals have also played and/or coached both Budućnost and Crvena zvezda in their careers:

• Duško Ivanović – Budućnost (1980–1987 player); Crvena zvezda (2022–present coach)
• Momir Milatović – Budućnost (N/A player, N/A coach); Crvena zvezda (1999 coach)
• Saša Obradović – Crvena zvezda (1987–1993, 1993–1994, 1999–2000 player; 2020 coach); Budućnost (2000–2001 player)
• Luka Pavićević – Budućnost (1984–1985 player; 2015–2016 coach), Crvena zvezda (1995–1996, 1998–1999, 2002–2003 player)
• Mihailo Pavićević – Budućnost (1979–1981, 1988–1989 player), Crvena zvezda (1997, 1998 coach)
• Dejan Radonjić – Budućnost (1991–1993, 1998–2002 player; 2005–2013 coach); Crvena zvezda (2013–2017, 2020–2022 coach)
• Zoran Sretenović – Crvena zvezda (1985–1986, 1995–1996 player), Budućnost (2001–2002 coach)
• Milenko Topić – Crvena zvezda (1997–1999 player; 2018 coach); Budućnost (1999–2001 player)

Honours

The rivalry reflected in derby matches comes about as Budućnost is the most successful basketball club in Montenegro, while Crvena zvezda is the second most successful club in Serbia.

Crvena zvezda	Competition	Budućnost
Domestic Leagues
12	Yugoslavia (defunct)	—
3	Serbia–Montenegro (defunct)	3
7		14
22	Aggregate	17
Domestic Cups
3	Yugoslav Cup (defunct)	3
8		15
11	Aggregate	18
Adriatic
6		1
1		—
7	Aggregate	1
European
1	FIBA Saporta Cup (defunct)	—
1	Aggregate	0
42	Total Aggregate	36

See also

• Crvena Zvezda–Partizan basketball rivalry
• List of sports rivalries

Notes and References

1. Web site: Playoffs MVP: Nemanja Gordić. www.aba-liga.com. 13 December 2020.
2. Web site: ZVEZDA OSVOJILA SUPERKUP ABA LIGE: Crveno-beli srušili Budućnost i pokazali ko je gazda na Jadranu . novosti.rs . 12 December 2020.
3. Web site: 2018 ABA SuperCup Final . aba-liga.com . 12 December 2020.
4. Web site: Crvena zvezda ostavila Budućnost bez šanse i osvojila Superkup . sportnet.rtl.hr . 13 December 2020.
5. Web site: Kakva dominacija Zvezde! Srpska momčad osvojila ABA Superkup, Budućnost bez šanse . germanijak.hr . 13 December 2020.
6. Web site: KOŠARKAŠI CRVENE ZVEZDE POBJEDNICI OVOGODIŠNJEG ABA SUPERKUPA Nakon polufinalne pobjede protiv Cedevite, u finalu deklasirali podgoričku Budućnost . sportske.jutarnji.hr . 23 September 2018 . 13 December 2020.
7. Web site: Crvena zvezda mts is the winner of 2018 ABA Super Cup . aba-liga.com . 13 December 2020.
8. Web site: ZVEZDI PRVI TROFEJ U SEZONI Faje MVP Superkupa ABA lige . sport.blic.rs . 13 December 2020.
9. Web site: Playoffs MVP: Billy Baron . aba-liga.com . 13 December 2020.
10. Web site: Daba: Zvezda-Budućnost, istorijat susreta . kosmagazin.com . 6 December 2020 . 12 December 2020.