It wasn’t meant to be as Dinamo were outplayed by Italian side Atalanta Tuesday night in Champions League in a 2-0 loss. Sloppy defending and lack of discipline will cost Dinamo priceless points as they will now have to fight on the last day of the CL group stage to merely finish third and play in Europa League after the new year.
They will host Manchester City next month in Zagreb; who have already locked up top spot in the group and are not expected to play any of their normal starters in the match. Depending on what happens in that game AND the Atalanta v. Shakhtar match that same day, Dinamo could be headed to the CL knockout round, the Europa League knockout round or simply just going home as far as Europe goes this season. A Draw in Italy Tuesday night night would have locked up Europa League (at minimum) but Dinamo will now need things to really go there way on the last day of group stage to set things up for 2020.
Mislav Oršić was the lone positive in Dinamo’s day with his right-footed shot off the crossbar in the first half.
Day 5 of the Champions League is upon us.
After a 4-0 thumping of Atalanta early in the campaign and two draws against Shakhtar Donstek, Dinamo Zagreb should be oozing with confidence going into their Tuesday night match vs. Italian club Atalanta. With a draw, Dinamo will book their ticket in Europe past the New Year; at minimum playing in the Europa League Round of 32.
However, if the reigning Croatian champions can manage another victory AND have Manchester City defeat Shakhtar Donetsk in the same night, they will be in control of their Champions League knockout round destiny. With that above given scenario, Dinamo would only need a draw against an already qualified City side on the final day of group stage in December to book their spot. There’s still much work to be done but before we get there, but it’s definitely worth discussing.
Dani Olmo’s stock has sky-rocketed this season. The same can be said for Mislav Oršić. Current Croatia #1 Dominik Livaković is getting plenty of 1st team play against warranted European competition. All three are expected to be sold in the summer for a pretty penny.
Headline today:
“Chelsea fans can’t believe their eyes as Kovacic scores first goal in 141 games… then misses a sitter against Valencia”
LOL.
Old habits die hard.
He used to score for inter more often
It’s usually the other way round easier to score in England than Italy
Just ask Dennis bergkamp
Saw uremovic made team of week in Russia…
Too bad euro wasn’t starting now
All the boys are hot
Ok great for Kova but act like u have done it before
Prob looking back be would prob be more chill
Kovacic’s celebration seems aimed at his critics, who have complained of his inability to score.
His “Cocking a Snook,” was done to mock them…As if to say “look mofo’s I scored!”
Lovren scored today as well. Rakitic and Broz played well too! Yep, another fantastic day for Hrvati in the Champions League.
I jumped in the air when Mateo scored.
I don’t know if there is a term for it, but he put his thumb to his nose and did that childish thing …. ok just googled:
>>Cocking a snook is a sign of derision made by putting the thumb on the nose, holding the palm open and perpendicular to the face, and wiggling the remaining fingers. It is used mostly by schoolchildren often combined with sticking out the tongue.
why what was the celebration?
kovacic scores his first goal for chelseal … it shows .. terrible celebration.
@Slavonac
Yea I caught the second half only.
But even though Atalanta was playing well, Dinamo couldn’t match the intensity (which is what they were doing in every game thus far).
They did it in Ukraine and England, but not in Italy. Oh well.
Hopefully Dinamo wins against City in ZG. That would be incredible.
Then we should injure some key Man City players to show Pep just how stupid he is 😉
Pep has already confirmed he will deploy a regular roster versus Dinamo as he believes in keeping the integrity of the champions league group play so no reserves coming in.
Our best hope is Shaktar beating Atalanta and us finishing 3rd.
Maminjo, I’m not so sure this game had as much to do with Dinamo having a bad game as it did with Atalanta just being the better team today. It was relatively obvious that they wanted this game more, from the first second the ref blew the whistle. They applied a lot of immediate pressure and Dinamo almost looked stunned…thats kinda surprising if you ask me! I expected Dinamo to defend vigorously and offer few chances but thats not how the game played out.
At the end of the day, I still have hope but my hopes are not high!
I wasnt expecting much from Dinamo Zagreb this team overachieved not many star players.
Euro Cup draw live on TV in Canada on Saturday — TSN4 and TSN5.
If Dinamo beats man city I buy the next round of beer for everyone at Maksimir!
Dinamo snatched defeat from the jaws of victory
Watch Dinamo beat Man City now lol
How the fuck do you go from almost certainly clinching 2nd to progress to next round, to not making it, to struggling to even make Europa?
Fuck me dead.
ZVEZDA LOSE 6-0 IN BEOGRAD AHAHAHAH
Also, ManCity has 1st secure. If they send their reserves and dinamo win…and shaktar dont win…dinamo get 2nd 😮
HEHEHEHEHHEHEH PEEPEE IN MY BUTT
Also a good chance shaktar will beat or tie atalanta at home and dinamo will be just fine
Wishful thinking. Good chance Dinamo is finishing 4th place and no Europa play. Only themselves to blame, they should of been to the round of 16.
Everybody has a bad game.
Dinamo was good every game except for today, and that weird last couple of minutes in the last game against Shakhtar.
They’ve been good in Champions League and hopefully they can close it out with at least a point, so they can continue in Europa.
Would be a pretty amazing finish if they beat Man City, and Shakhtar can’t pull out the win on Atalanta.
I am not sure how the last Shakhtar game falls on Bjelica? His team had a wonderful late game surge and then the players panic. the French Defender swung an elbow at the opposing teams goalie for no reason. That’s not on the coach.
Jebi ga man. Champions League pressure is a lot different then a cup game vs NK Lokomotiva in front of a thousand people.
Atalanta under estimated Dinamo in Zagreb and were spanked. Today Atalanta showed why they are a top Italian Serie A team.
I agree completely with U Boj. This was pathetic and what the fuck was Peric thinking. 1 shot on goal all fucking game, Oršić had a beautiful hit too bad it hit the crossbar. I not a Dinamo fan but seriously this was a pathetic performance.
Atalanta with the chance to finish third in the group if they beat Shakhtar.
Dinamo have to hope for a draw or win in that other game. Shame.
This falls on the players and bjelica for the last game. Awful time management. To let in 2 goals in extra time is awful. Unfortunately that will cost them.
Did anyone watch Atalanta vs Man City when they tied last game?
Wonder if they legitimately played well against Man City, or if the draw was lucky.
I was always worried about this game, ever since Shakhtar beat them in Italy. That meant we had to do the same.
Bad timing if Atalanta is turning it around.
I’d still be surprised if we lost though. Bjelica has them playing very consistently in these Champions League games. Unfortunately, a draw won’t be good enough.
Croats are late bloomers anyway.
We generally have poor results with our youth squads, yet almost won a couple of World Cups.
So long as you have a handful of high end blue chip prospects (like we always seem to do), then you’re good.
No point in having a good youth team across every position, if none of them have star potential.
Guys like Brekalo and Vlašić had star potential, and now it’s paying off. Hopefully we see the same from Marin and Gvardiol.
Hopefully this game goes better than the youth game did. Dinamo lost 2-0 to Atalanta. It’s honestly not as strong of a youth team as it might seem. Antonio Marin and Josko Gvardiol are the only stand outs for me. Bartol Franjic, Renato Josipovic, Tomislav Krizmanic, Tin Hrvoj, Edin Julardzija are all okay, but aren’t the type of players that someone will go “wow he’s really good.” They are not the type of players who I think will be quality players, but will could be decent performers in the end. Luckily there are some others like Baturina, Kulenovic, Horkas, and Gjira that I rate more highly. Maybe some of them will change my mind, who knows.
Petković will also be sold. Dinamo gonna bring in a ton then the next wave of guys, like Antonio Marin will step up. Very exciting times
I think Atalanta will try to suffocate and press the hell outta Dinamo today. I honestly can’t see a good result coming out of this game. I might be a pessimist but I think I’m a realist as well. As much as I want to see Dinamo do well, I just don’t see it…and I hope I’m wrong!