Dinamo Zagreb went toe-to-toe with the Swiss champions Wednesday night in the playoff round of Champions League qualifying; with the match ending 1-1 in Berne. The winner of the two-legged tie will go to the Champions League group stage in September while the loser gets moved to Europa League.
After a disastrous start which saw Dinamo concede a goal inside two minutes to Kevin Mbabu, the Croatian champions rebounded the rest of the match and got their all-important away goal while thwarting multiple Young Boys attacks. In the 40th minute, Dinamo caught the Swiss on a strong counter attack where Mislav Oršić finished beautifully after a 50-yard dash.
Both clubs could have easily scored more goals in the second half with Dinamo goalie Daniel Zagorac making five tough saves on the day. Dinamo hit the post after the restart and nearly scored off a curling strike and should be confident heading back to Zagreb next week.
Young Boys know they have to score at Maksimir or it’s all over. If Dinamo can come out strong from the opening whistle and get Mario Gavranović to get his scoring groove back, Dinamo could very well be back in the Champions League group stage with the big boys.
Tika Taka is important to maintain possession.
The problem with Spain is their wingers/forwards are toothless and don’t press or attack.
We played some Tika Taka at the World Cup, but it certainly helps when you have guys like Rebić, Mandžo and Perišić constantly crashing the opposing defenders.
Pass completion and possession is the trigger, but you will always need some bullets.
Spain completed over 1,000 passes vs Russia and still lost pass completions are just tika taka overated football. PETAR BOCKAJ!
Probably won’t be in MLS for long..
ya kind of; decent in the air due to size and reading of the game. Josef Martinez is someone I would consider good in air…ya I just dropped an MLS reference hahah
Totally! The only thing you forgot was good in the air.
@ Poglavnik
Isn’t that the typical Croatian though?!? I’m similar but not as good w/ my left anymore and not as much of a scoring threat anymore either hhahhaha
@Andrej L
You described my game to a tee! 😉
zlatan hrvat is a croatia hating yugo
Maybe a better comparison would be a poor man’s Rakitic. Likes to use both feet, had some nice moves but won’t dribble by you, good vision via long balls, put’s in an okay defensive effort, and a bit of a scoring threat. Tall but not too mobile.
BTW I’m pretty sure after the first round of games, Rakitic completed the most passes in La Liga and Brozovic completed the most passes in Serie A. Spain must be shitting themselves hahaha
Pasalic is a right footed player. I think him and Brozovic were both killing in the HNL at similar positions. He’s not as mobile and a little taller/heavier. I thought he would be better suited as a holding midfielder but even Milan liked playing him as a CAM. Until he finds a consistent club and consistent position, I don’t see him really living up to the potential he had at Hajduk. But I vaguely remember him being more of a scorer than Brozovic. I don’t see him ever playing on the wing for the Repka.
https://www.transfermarkt.com/mario-pasalic/profil/spieler/205938
Pašalić looks bad whenever I see him play… Yet he always seems to find his way onto starting squads on some pretty good teams (despite being a young loaner). He even has a good scoring rate for a midfielder.
How is he even playing on the wing?
He’s a Brozović type midfielder from what I recall.
pasalic: the left footed beckham…
top
Pivaric got the start yesterday but they lost. Livaja also started and they won.
Pasalic played RW again today. Vida finally played 90 mins in a 1-1 draw against Partizan. Kalinic got the shut out today. Katic got the start for Rangers as well w/ Borna being ineligible to play.
Orsic! call him up hahahha
Looks as if Halilovic is not going out on loan after all.
@Truth- Sorry about the result, we all know that you really like the Young Boys.
Holy shit when are they going to issue more
Jerseys can’t buy one any where.
Speaking of Dinamo.
Here’s a blast form the not so past.
https://www.givemesport.com/1377400-highlights-of-luka-modrics-performance-v-arsenal-for-dinamo-zagreb-in-2006
Dinamo is a legit team.
Rijeka and Osijek are too.
Only problem is that (for some reason) Dinamo is horrible in European competitions, but always qualifies for them. Very consistent, but very low ceiling. Rijeka has better results against Euro clubs, but volatile when it comes down to actually qualifying for them.
Hajduk is just consistently bad. The leadership at Hajduk have turned that club into a farce, and the fans can’t even see it…so they will never clean house.
I hope they get relegated. Would be the best thing to happen to that club.
Dinamo Zagreb to make the Champions League final and the Cleveland Browns to make the Superbowl.
I heard off someone thst if Dinamo progress cro gets a auto spot for champs league potentially, anyone shed some light on this ?