Milorad Pavić, known in western Europe as Michel or Miša Pavić, was born in Valjevo in 1921 and is remembered above all as the coach who shaped Red Star Belgrade. He worked at the club from the early 1950s, took the first team through 216 competitive matches and won three Yugoslav championships and three cups, before a long career in Belgium with Standard Liège and Club Brugge and in Spain with Athletic Bilbao, where he lifted the 1973 Copa del Generalísimo.

He signed a two-year contract with Benfica on 22 April 1974 and took over that summer, replacing Fernando Cabrita in a country in the middle of the Carnation Revolution. The 1974-75 campaign started slowly, then turned: a run through January and February opened a clear gap on Porto and Sporting and the title was sealed with a 1-1 draw against Sporting on 4 May, Benfica's 21st championship.

Even so, he lasted only the one season. Boavista beat Benfica 2-1 in the Taça de Portugal final and PSV knocked them out of the Cup Winners' Cup. Pavić left in June 1975 for Málaga, and died in Valjevo in 2005.