Dinamo are injured. Their HNL form is anything but fantastic. Yet, they are hanging in the Champions League hunt for a top-24 finish and knockout round berth in 2025. But to get there, they will certainly need a result against Celtic Tuesday night at Maksimir. Even a draw should be considered a positive.
After Celtic, Dinamo have Arsenal in North London before capping off their League Phase campaign against AC Milan in Zagreb. 3-4 more points from their remaining three matches “should” be good enough for a top-24 finish. However, it all starts against a hot Celtic squad who have defeated RB Leipzig and drawn one of the most in-form clubs in Europe: Atalanta. Celtic sit comfortably atop the Scottish table by nine points and a win against Dinamo would just about punch their ticket to the knockout round playoff.
The BBC are confident in a Celtic result. But is the English media being cocky? Or right on the money this time? Celtic are +120 favorites to win this match in Vegas.
Torino at Empoli, Sosa starting in the midfield.
Both FlashScore and FotMob gave Sosa the highest rating of any player in the game (FlashScore: 7.7; FotMob: 8.2 … FotMob also gave Torino goalie Milinkovic-Savic an 8.2.)
Couple beauty crosses from BS. Including — shit you not! — one with his right foot.
Bravo Sosa! At 26, he should be in the prime of his career. I often wonder if he regretted leaving Stuttgart..
Haha Serbia and Albania drew each other with England
I thought they couldn’t draw together
But I guess that must be Kosovo
Looking forward to some proper Balkan shenanigans
Full draw results.
Skupina A: Pobjednik utakmice Njemačka – Italija, Slovačka, Sjeverna Irska, Luksemburg
Skupina B: Švicarska, Švedska, Slovenija, Kosovo
Skupina C: Poraženi iz utakmice Portugal – Danska, Grčka, Škotska, Bjelorusija
Skupina D: Pobjednik utakmice Francuska – Hrvatska, Ukrajina, Island, Azerbajdžan
Skupina E: Poraženi iz utakmice Španjolska – Nizozemska, Turska, Gruzija, Bugarska
Skupina F: Pobjednik utakmice Portugal – Danska, Mađarska, Irska, Armenija
Skupina G: Poraženi iz Španjolska – Nizozemska, Poljska, Finska, Litva, Malta
Skupina H: Austrija, Rumunjska, Bosna i Hercegovina, Cipar, San Marino
Skupina I: Poraženi iz utakmice Njemača – Italija, Norveška, Izrael, Moldavija
Skupina J: Belgija, Wales, Estonija, Kazahstan, Lihtenštajn
Skupina K: Engleska, Srbija, Albanija, Litva, Andora
Skupina L: Poraženi iz utakmice Francuska – Hrvatska, Češka, Crna Gora, Farski otoci, Gibraltar
If we were to end up in Group L, I think goal difference could prove to be important as we always seem to tie Czechia.
Yes I agree, I also think it could come down to who does better against Montenegro.
True, true. Btw it seems we’ve never played Montenegro before..
Yes, and Robert Prosinecki is their coach.
Good luck Zuti, we’re gonna crush his team😁
Win against France and play – Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan
Lose against France – Chechia, Montenegro, Faroes and Gibraltar
Either way we will have to get by Ukraine or Chechia. Both tough matches.
Could be worse.
The group is fine. Playing two minnow teams will be exciting (barf). Hopefully no injuries there.
This whole process is strange…drawing groups before you know which teams will be there. Theoretically, teams could now fix matches to avoid certain groups. Either group isn’t bad for us, but I think the group with Czech and Montenegro would be easier than the first one. Iceland, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan can all give teams problems if they’re on.
POV for Croatia not the right way to look at this
It’s the POV for France
UEFA wanted to make sure in either scenario (win or lose) there is sweetheart group for France
So as a result Croatia Collaterally Benefits
Just look at England – league 2 NL – but UEFA changed rules recently so top ranked FIFA get in pot 1 – that ensured England pot 1 even if they got relegated from NL !
Now again w Serbia Albania same group as them – chances are high there is fan stuff – whereby one/both of them could de docked points
Didn’t u find strange no Serbia Kosovo and no Serbia Bosnia allowed – but not no Serbia Albania ? Especially after that flag incident ?!!!
UEFA has kept this optionality of Serbia Albania for just this reason – pair them w England – if England struggles – when fan stuff Serbia Albania dock points or the like
Who cares. Serbia is pretty much screwed with this group.
Again wrong POV
Nobody cares Serbia POV – they only care England POV
Group D or L. Either way we should top group and qualify. This would have to be our easiest ever!
Folks UEFA WC Qualifying draw LIVE on HRT2 at 12:00 hrs Croatian time.
Also LIVE on UEFA website.
…And Fox Sports 1.
Neither Sucic nor Matanovic saw the field today in Europa League action. I don’t know if Sucic has a nagging injury, or if the coach just decided to sit him.
On the brighter side, Ivanovic scored both USG goals in a 2-1 win over Nice.
The second and winning goal by Ivanovic in the 92nd min, struck with his less dominant left foot:
https://streamin.me/v/fb0823f6
Hello Croatiansports.com Admin… my last 3 comments were for some reason flagged up for moderation. They are essentially the same, please could you unlock the most recent one? Thanks in advance…
(Comment still awaiting moderation… attempting to post again with different wording)
Is it time to worry about Gvardiol? When Lovren was playing for Liverpool, I don’t even remember him bungling so frequently.
I’m just hoping this rough patch will pass soon and Pep still hasn’t lost faith in Gvardiol.
Good to see Kovacic among the list of substitutes btw, I’d thought he would be out for a while more.
Livakovic should have went to a better club/league. It doesn’t seem like he is getting any better. Especially, when they played against man utd and Mourinho basically said his keeper his crap and would rather want Onana. He probably should have went to Fiorentina.
TOTTENHAM CB WATCH
Romero – out 6 more weeks (after 13 min Chelsea – after being out for a month)
Micky VDV – out for TBD (after 70 min Chelsea – same hamstring) 😢 😢 😢
Ben Davies – hammy – out for TBD
So down to Dragusin and 18 y.o. CM Archie Gray playing as CB
Tottenham need to add 2 CBs in Jan (probably 1 buy and 1 internal)
Ashley Philips @ Stoke loan – rumours this morning they call back early
https://x.com/TottenhamTiers/status/1867160728844501360
This would be great news for Vuskovic i.e. let him continue in Belgium this year – and take step by step – not rushing him into PL at 18 in February
Pulisic doc series
LMAO
Anyone have any additional details on the background / relationship w his “best friend” Dan ?
Odd his mom says Christian doesn’t want mom at home – he doesn’t want dad at home – he doesn’t want any family at home – he ONLY wants to see Dan !!!
WTF
🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
Suspect dad pushed him to US vs Croatia for this reason (given relative openness to such things) rather than patriotic allegiance – the truth always comes out in the end
Hilarious seeing Zlatan push him out of his comfort zone to do all the media stuff’s
And many of us thought Pulisic dad Mark wasn’t a true Croatian patriot – now that the truth re Dan has been revealed – it’s clear we had it all wrong – Mark is indeed a very patriotic old-school Croat – hence him making his son play for US
Funny all this time we never knew !
🤣🤣🤣
I’m not following.
What’s going on here?
From what I am gathering front from this knucklehead thread…
– Pulišić has some gay friend named Dan.
– Pulišić hates his parents and doesn’t want them around.
– Pulišić’s dad wants him to bang this friend, and (correctly) suspects that playing for Croatia will prevent this.
– Pulišić’s dad pushed him playing for the USA because he’s an agent of the LGBT community
– Zlatan pushed Pulišić out of the closet
Am I getting this all right?
You have to watch it
Dan stuff starts around 15 minute mark
Pay attention to the invite to film him change into AC Milan kit, the “Are you filming me ? How could you ?” with the facial expressions, etc etc etc
His dad has (not) come to terms w it by saying “Well when you play at the level he’s playing there are a lot of tough days” – while he grist his teeth
But it’s his mom that tells it like it is
For additional insight – pls see Dan’s IG for the storied history
@Danielioffreda
As e.g. pics of them sharing a jet ski with Dan riding behind and holding on to Puli’s waist, Puli long embrace of what looks to be Dan wearing a Puli jersey, etc
Imagine Puli sitting in a dressing room next to Vida and Brozovic…
What was Gvardiol doing on those 2 Juventus goals ?
Definitely should have done better with the first goal. Firstly, poor clearance resulting with a cross on to the back post over Gvardiol and on to Vlahovic to score with the header. Not sure about the second goal ? possibly ball watching and not keeping an eye on the player coming behind him to score.
Last couple of matches he has been playing as CB but unfortunately still making mistakes.
Josko has all the talent in the world but his self awareness and being out of position due to ball watching is concerning.
The first juve goal you can Blame the keeper even after josko’s bad clearance but the 2nd goal he moves toward a guy who is already man marked and leaves the American wide open to seal the deal for juve.
This shouldn’t be happening especially after all of his blunders this past month.
He is continuously getting exposed lately.
When Lovren was playing for Liverpool, I don’t even remember him screwing up so frequently.
Is it time to worry about Gvardiol? This rough patch will pass soon and Pep still has faith in him, I hope…
Good to see Kovacic among the list of substitutes btw.
When Lovren was playing for Liverpool, I don’t even remember him scr*wing up so frequently.
Is it time to worry about Gvardiol? This rough patch will pass soon and Pep still has faith in him, I hope…
Good to see Kovacic among the list of substitutes btw.
Josko is just lost out there!
Josko is going to get torched again by the English media …2 consecutive errors on him for the juventus goal
I was just looking at the world cup qualifying. If you are drawn in a four team group, it is incredibly condensed. The entire group stage will play out from september to november 2025.
If you have an injury during that time, it could be incredibly costly as no time to recover.
Also, if you are in 4 team group, you have to wait almost 9 months for a game
It’s even worse than that
Teams in groups of 4 have to schedule / play friendlies during the international windows (beyond NL commitments)
So players at risk for nothing on the line – see Pjaca first ACL injury was some stupid friendly on crappy pitch – I forget where
The friendly’s should be use to test the fringe players…ie. Pandur, Haliliovic, Marko Tolic, Misic, Pasilic, Stanko Juric…etc.
Estonia
Latvia
Estonia away in 2017 and we lost 3 – 0.
No Petar Sucic
No Dinamo win 10 games
Baturina Packaged Deal Petar
Is 10 games enough data points ?
Baturina laying down behind the wall a la Brozovic role – but petrified and for some reason looking over his shoulder the whole time can’t wait to get up – just about sums him up
Batu had a decent game but agreed laying down with your back turned looking petrified was not a good look.
His hold up play when receiving the ball is excellent and he has decent speed and strength. I would expect him to be a bit quicker considering how small he is. But the potential to be Croatia’s next great midfielder is there.
Dinamo had 5 regulars out of the lineup…..they did well. They were put in a position to take points from Milan with full lineup.
I love the sound of those u15 and 16 call ups. We all saw what Spain did when they combined their possession skills with speed and attack at the wings. Players of African ancestry have been supply many European nations with their speed and the width it brings. Croatia could desperately use at least one of those guys
Look at the wings of all European powerhouses
1) Spain: nico Williams and yamil
2) Portugal: leao
3) France: mbappe and dembele
4) England: saka
5) Germany: sane, musiala
6) Netherlands: xavi Simon
7) Belgium: doku
Is the point good? Headline suggests it is.
Girona’s jersey from tonight, heh: https://livesport-ott-images.ssl.cdn.cra.cz/r900xfq60/d26be73c-2bf0-42f7-8c89-1c28aaff427f.jpeg
Celtic were the better team. Dinamo bruised and battered. Take the point and pray AC Milan play their B-squad
Need another 3 points to progress.
Nothing less.
Don’t hold breath AC Milan will B-team
If they only get 7 points out of 9 last 3 games
Top 8 chance = 58%
i.e. they will want 9 points – including the 3 vs. Dinamo – but especially if they drop points over the next 2 games
x.com/fmeetsdata/status/1865450819253907943
Missed opportunity vs. Celtic y’day
Dinamo now most likely finishes in 26th spot
x.com/fmeetsdata/status/1865450819253907943
“Missed opportunity vs. Celtic y’day”….with all the injuries they did really well not to lose this game.
You need to be realistic. It was a good result because of good tactics by Bjelica. He played not to lose and that is what they did.
With a full squad Dinamo could have taken more chances to get a goal and win the game. The next 2 CL games are in lane January enough time to get some of the regulars back.
Well said. “bruised and battered”.
Dinamo didn’t have many chances, but there were a couple of missed opportunities. Kulenovic maybe should have hit the target on that cross, or Pjaca’s saved header. Overall it was a battle just to get the draw. I don’t think anyone is expecting Dinamo to progress, but that’s the beauty of the Champions League, you never know.
Selected U15 talent
🇭🇷 🇧🇷 Rafael Gomez Cirino Belinho (Dinamo)
🇭🇷🇨🇩 Emmanuel Vajda (Dinamo)
🇭🇷🇨🇩 Thomas Bradamente (Rijeka)
🇭🇷🇫🇷🇲🇱 Liam Claude Kante (Dinamo)
🇭🇷🇳🇬Francis Chinedu Echue (Gorica)
Liam Kante and Francis Echue are ethnically both half Croats, and they’re both born and raised in Zagreb. These two are a non issue for the National Team.
Belinho is fully Brazilian, and spent at least the past 5 years in Croatia with his family setting up roots here.
Not sure if he’s officially committed to playing for us long term, outside of what we read in news outlets. It could just be a ploy to pressure Brazil, or just a career move to play for us. I’m still not sure about how I feel about Belinho playing for us.
Emmanuel Vajda is not Croatian. Not sure how much time he’s spent in Croatia, but he’s Congolese who is born (and likely raised) there.
I don’t know who Thomas Bradamente is…but he’s a Rijeka player and (based off the photos I’ve seen), he’s probably in the same boat as Vajda.
Rijeka is notorious for bringing in a lot of African players into their u19 ranks. I prefer we don’t start handing out citizenship like candy to players who were neither born nor raised in Croatian.
For the Medulin winter camps for U15 and U16 going on right now
For U15 – Vajda, Bradamente and Kante invited
For U16 – Echue invited
Belinho not invited (not sure why – maybe not a citizenship yet ?)
Vajda – already has 2 caps for Croatia U15s in Sep (played 45′ vs Lithuania and 90′ vs. Ireland) – so he must have Croatian citizenship
Bradamente – was called up to Croatia U15s in October for two friendlies vs. Varazdin and Rudes cadets – I suspect he too already has Croatian citzenship
Keep digging Anon.
We will find our Lamine Yamal im sure of it.
Good stuff.
Belinho definitely has Croatian citizenship. He received it earlier in the year.
[https://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/rubrika/nogomet/belinho-ce-igrati-za-hrvatsku-velika-brazilska-nada-dinama-progovorila-hrvatski—837656.html]
Right now, he is currently with the Dinamo cadets playing in an 8-team tournament (called the Flamengo Cup) in Rio de Janeiro. They’re there until the 16th.
This is more likely the reason he wasn’t called up.
Youth CL – Half time Dinamo 2 v Celtic 1 in Zapresic.
They need a win to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stage.
For those with access to ArenaSport 1 you can watch the match LIVE.
KO was at 13.00 Croatian time.
Thanks for the heads up. Looked around and am watching on TNT Sports 2 via IPTV. Pitch looks rough.
Youth CL – FT Dinamo 2 v Celtic 1
8 points and in 20th position. Will need some other results to go their way to progress.
O Dinamoooo, mi volimoooo!