The Champions League group stage draw will begin Thursday, August 30th at 11:45AM (ET). It is then we will find out who Dinamo Zagreb and company will play over the next three months during six matches. Last year, the Croatian champions were given a difficult road as they had to face Real Madrid, Lyon and Ajax. Dinamo lost every match and scored only three goals while conceding a whopping 22. Will the football gods be kinder to them this time around?
What is the easiest road for Dinamo? Who do you want to see in Zagreb?
Photo: HSV.de
One day after Dinamo captain Milan Badelj helped the Modri back into the Champions League group stage, the 23 year-old flew to Hamburg where he would join his new team: Bundesliga club HSV Hamburg. The transfer was planned well in advance, as it was known Badelj would stay with Dinamo during the Champions League qualifying run but transfer before the deadline. The reported transfer fee for Badelj was €4 million. He will join fellow Croatian international Ivo Iličević at Hamburg.
Wedding ?
@Ziva – Don’t tell me the Dinamo-Kiev game will get the same highlight time and coverage as the Manchester City – Madrid game. FoxSoccer will show the Dinamo game, but I’d be surprised if many of those games were shown live, and not tap delayed.
Also, You said with badelj leaving, it will leave a good spot open for kovacic, but don’t they normally play different roles/positions in the midfield? Would love to see kovacic get going, and I’m sure badelj leaving will have some impact on his playing time, but would you say kovacic is a replacement for badelj?
@ Fisto, Ante B
Next week’s wedding is gonna be REALLY fun at this pace!
@ Professor Istina,
I just enrolled in your Hajduk course.
I like what I see in the syllabus:
-how to finish second
-how to make your players play with no pay
-where to stick flares so security can’t find then
@ Nije Bitno aka Loses at Everything!
Still no invite for Bocce. I’ll let you win the first few upon my return, promise.
I don’t think the crowd cares to buy tickets based on Kranjcar or Vukojevic. If they show up for Kranjcar it will be to boo him.
I think for Dynamo Kiev they will have a packed crowd. I’m not saying sold out but I think they would also like to see Kranjcar and to a lesser extent Vukojevic.
Dinamo will struggle to sell tickets for this group 😀 PSG will attract a nice crowd, but I doubt people will go overboard for Porto and Dynamo, unless Mamic gives discounts again haha
@Colin……..what do you mean TV time? Every game of the Champions League is on TV.
Porto is a class club. They have been in the group stage of the CL every year since 2004 and have failed to get out of the group stage twice, including last year. Tough to see them falling out this year. They have to be viewing this draw and saying its an easy group.
PSG has yet to gel but you would have to think they can do enough to get out of the group stage here.
Dynamo Kiev is a good draw from Dinamo. This is not the Dynamo Kiev side of past years. It will be tough for Dinamo to get third in this group, but they will have a fighting chance.
The problem for Dinamo will be the same as every year. (This is my cue to repeat what I wrote last year)….. They don’t play any games during the year that prepare them for Champions League play. In Cro they dominate every game in terms of possesion with the only exception being when they travel to Poljud. They wont control possesion against these opponets, which means they have to play a different style. The three games they played in qualifying for the Champs League were against a Bulgarian side we never heard of, the best team from Slovenia and the best team from Moldavia. Those are not nations noted for their prostitutes, not their club teams. That is not the type of competiton that prepares you for the likes of PSG and Porto.
I’m liking this group. We maybe have a chance beating Kiev and the rest, whatever… PSG has done nothing yet, but are bound to gel together eventually and Porto is just too tough, but we’ve had worse.
Just bummed we aren’t in a group with an English team, just for the sake of the TV time we would have got.
Dinamo will finish last with ZERO points and they will be -18 goal difference
No superpower, but similar-powered teams. Tough for Dinamo, but getting third place is possible.
Shame, I wanted Real Madrid to be in the group :-/
not a fan of the group, just because none of the teams are “sexy” enough for me, I did want a big name. PSG are not yet proven so they don’t count. I wish we got Group C honestly
Dinamo will get 0 points in reality, maybe Kiev at home they can get something
*Richest club in the world that hasn’t won a match yet.
Dinamo has no chance getting by Porto and PSG unless the game in ZG against Porto in in winter considtions. Porto always seems to get out of the group stage and I would think PSG with their high priced line up gets out of the group.
They have a chance to get the third place spot over Dynamo Kiev.
Fudge, richest club in the world in our group from pot 3
OK… just avoid group D.
@Ziva – You said with badelj leaving, it will leave a good spot open for kovacic, but don’t they normally play different roles/positions in the midfield? Would love to see kovacic get going, and I’m sure badelj leaving will have some impact on his playing time, but would you say kovacic is a replacement for badelj?
We have seven teams with Croatians who will participate in this year’s Champions League
1. Dinamo Zagreb (Pot 4)
2. Bayern Munich (Pot 1), Mandzukic
3. Real Madrid (Pot 1), Modric
4. Shakhtar (Pot 2), Srna, Dudu
5. Dynamo Kyiv (Pot 2), Kranjcar, Vukojevic
6. Dortmund (Pot 4), Perisic
7. Nordjaellan/FCN (Pot 4), Ivan Runje, Mario Ticinovic
Dnipro rejected a bid for Ivan Strinic from Sunderland
Is that über annoying bald fuck with the small microphone taped to the side of his head doing to the draw? If he is, I refuse to watch out of pure spite.
@ ziva . what’s the thoughts out there on kovacic nowadays? looking at the stats, the guy is still very young at only 18. modric didn’t really start playing well in the hnl and scoring goal/assists till he was 20 and only became the dominant player there it looks like when he was 22. so taking that into account, looks like kovacic does have time on his side
Different positions……He is faster/quicker than Kranjcar, but Kranjcar is much more skilled than Badelj.
I think he will have a place on the repka, but I don’t think Badelj will ever be the type of player who should start for repka on a consistent basis.
Ziva,
He sounds like another Niko Kranjcar, no? Or is he not quite THAT slow?
Badelj leaving is a big deal. But, it should set the stage for Kovacic once he is back healthy. I don’t know if Kovacic will be as good as some claim he will be, but he will have that opportunity.
I have mixed thoughts on Badelj. He has skills, but I think he lacks the speed/quickness for his positionto make a big impact on the national team.
If Dinamo was put in a group with 3 other teams ONLY from POT 4 they would still finish last
What effect will Badelj’s departure have on Dinamo? Anyone?
I hope for something like….
Real Madrid (only for Modric)
Schalke
Anderlecht
Attractive group but with a winnable game in there (Anderlecht)
I honestly want a big team from Pot 1 but then something a little easier from Pots 2/3. But in all reality, with the exception of Anderlecht, all these teams are too strong for Dinamo at this moment
Croatian Cup First Round draw announced:
1st Round
Vrsar vs. Dinamo Zagreb
Slunj vs. Hajduk Split
Libertas (Novska) vs. Varazdin
Novalja vs. Osijek
Nedelisce vs. Rijeka
Ivancica vs. Slaven Belupo
Koprivnica vs. Pomorac
Zrinski (Farkasevac) vs. NK Zagreb
Vinodol vs. Cibalia
GOSK (Dubrovnik) vs. Sibenik
Visnjevac vs. Istra 1961
HNK Gorica vs. Inter Zapresic
Zelina vs. Karlovac
Lokomotiva Zagreb vs. Segesta Sisak
Split vs. Zagora
Zadar vs. Konavljanin
AJMO VINDOL! Hope they upset Cibalia!
Modric delighted with winning start after lifting silverware in first game for Real
http://is.gd/TzrnUM
Ronaldo: Modrić će biti dobar!
http://is.gd/HzXUPv
Hazard predvodi Belgiju protiv Hrvatske
http://is.gd/z9PFqh
Man U, Braga, Lille, DINAMO ZAGREB
Arsenal are the weakest team in pot 1, & maybe Dynamo Kiev in pot 2. I’m not so sure about pot 3, maybe the Greeks or the Turks. Just avoid PSG in pot 3, as the group that gets them will likely be tagged as the group of death. Anyway, good luck Dinamo from a Hajduk fan.
Ante K , and Hajduk are the Best