Dinamo Zagreb and Real Betis are facing off in the UEFA European Conference League Round of 32 in Spain. After a day of drama between Bruno Petković, Robert Jarni, and the HNS, a positive result would be massive for Dinamo ahead of the home leg.
FT: Dinamo 1 – 0 Real Betis
Bruno Petković opened the scoreline from the penalty spot in the 75th minute of the match, following a VAR check for a handball inside the box. Petković found the far left side of the net, beating Rui Silva’s dive to the same side.
Thursday night’s result was unbelievably huge for the Croatian champions, as they now return to Zagreb for the home leg with an advantage on the scoreboard. Despite a few dangerous chances from Betis late, the Dinamo defensive line held strong to ensure the upset victory.
This is Dinamo’s first victory on Spanish soil in eight tries. Real Betis currently sit 6th place on the La Liga table.
Dinamo and Betis will clash in the return leg on February 22nd in Zagreb. After a rough start to league play in 2023-24, this is a chance for Dinamo to regroup and up their confidence.
please remove my comments from being moderated
Luka vuskovic starting today
after listening to the media and even to some of our own “experts” in Croatia, I was expecting Dinamo to get completely dominated…even though I’ve openly said this many times…Dinamo can play against any middle of the road club from any league. The reason I listened to the media is because I don’t know this current Real Betis team so I don’t like to make comments or predictions.
yesterdays game reminded me of some of Dinamo’s HNL games where they maintain more possession, more shots, more attacking opportunities but the stress of not breaking through a disciplined defense can cause you to create errors and yesterday was a prime example. Betis felt the pressure of having to score at home and it offered Dinamo a chance to stay patient and attack on the counter.
as per Jarni? look, I have concluded that being a Hajduk fan is like having small mans disease…always yapping and trying to prove you are bigger than you actually are. they embellish everything, all the time. constantly taking jabs at anything from ZG or Dinamo while they enjoy and reap the rewards of Dinamo’s European success. without Dinamo, Croatia would be on par with country’s like San Marino and Cyprus. anytime hajduk play Dinamo its the World Cup finals for them…anytime Dinamo play Hajduk its just another game in another season.
Maybe Jarni didn’t deserve to get fired but lets be honest here…even when a Hajduk player like Livaja pisses off an entire stadium in Rijeka by insulting their fans by chanting over the loud speaker and then weeks later he physically challenges an old man…his team decides he’s too much of a head case to support so they let him sink…and the entire Tovari/Torcida fanboy club blame Dalic for not supporting his stupid and childish behaviour. this is Hajduk…drama, crying, accusations, insults, forever ongoing lies and made up bullshit just to support their players and club. Its really hard to like them, no credibility at all…just a bunch of drama, every single day…all day! the more I’ve learned about them, the more it explains how some of my childhood friends were soo delusional when it comes to conspiracies and made up bullshit I listened to my entire life.
Jarni is just another idiot and he can now go and cheer for whoever he wants to without worrying about offending anyone!
Ultimately Jarni got fired not because of his comments but he did not get great results with U17 team that is very talented.
Don’t insult one of our legends you fuck
Huge result, well done !
I can’t believe that Jarni would get sacked fot that (how good was Jarni!), so he was going for Betis his old team, I mean, what’s the problem? He’s probably happy Dinamo won after the fact?
There are people here that didn’t want Croatia to be at the 2018 WC, then, as Slavonac from Canada has informed us many times, cheered when Croatia got 2nd place to my France. That’s surely a lot worse what Anthony Kvartuc and his cronies wanted?
I’m happy Jarni was fired, but only because he’s an awful coach and we can’t have guys like Jarni and Simunic in these positions at the youth level, messing up the development of our kids.
But saying that you’re cheering for Betis isn’t a good look though, when you are currently a National Team coach.
For example, it would be like Jurgen Klopp (in a few years) becoming the German National Team coach, but then saying that he’s cheering for Liverpool to beat Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League Final.
It’s understandable, because he was a Liverpool coach and was never a Leverkusen coach or player (and actually coached Borussia Dortmund instead)…but it’s also not a good look as he is a German FA employee as coach of the National Team.
Klopp would get criticized by the German media for sure.
I think the added element of Dinamo being a huge underdog, taking on a top-6 La Liga team in Betis…and Dinamo needing all the positive support they can get…and it just sucks to see a HNS-employed coach cheering for the favorites against you.
I’m fine with Jarni saying whatever he wants. Jarni shouldn’t be fired for it, but definitely deserves some criticism, sure.
Not surprised that Petkovic called him a clown. I don’t see why people are knocking Petkovic, other than the fact that it’s pretty unprofessional to say it to a former legend like Jarni. But I get the frustration and where he’s coming from.
Both can say what they want, and both deserve criticism for various reasons.
I don’t agree with him being fired…but I have a feeling he was already on thin ice because he’s such a garbage coach.
100%
Agreed, Jarni opening goal against Germany is still one of my favorite goals to watch in the Croatia’s first world cup historical 3rd place run. It would be another thing if he had never play for Betis, for sure. Would think though people would give him a bit of slack.
If Real Madrid or Tottenham played Rijeka, who would Modric be secretly supporting after he retires. If Modric replaces Dalic in 10 years from now do we fire him, if word gets out, that he has hidden heart string feelings for those teams.
Well done Petkovic on the game and calling out Jarni.
Jarni is a clown.
Dinamo defended well during the entire match and Betis struggled to break them down. The closest Betis came to scoring was from a free kick towards the end of the match when the ball hit the post. Apart from the penalty Dinamo did not have any other shots on target or for that matter any clear-cut chances in front of goal.
Good result but with the return leg in Zagreb it is far from over.
According to the TV commentator this was Dinamo’s 10 match in Spain and first win, with the previous nine ending in defeat. In regards to Jarni getting the sack from our U17’s for publicly stating that he was going to support Betis his former club over Dinamo and Petkovic calling him a clown for doing so. I personally think that HNS did the right thing in sacking Jarni. He should have kept his mouth shut.
Bruno is the clown still. He will never be to level of Jarni. He can stay at Dinamo and do nothing.
Jebi se. Možda vam se ne sviđa, ali on je dobar.
Jedna stvar mi ne ide. ne razumijem zašto se neki ljute ako ne navijas za DZ u Europi. Ja osobno nikada ne bih navijao ni za hajduka ni za rijeku ni zadar ili split u košarci. Ista stvar s Jugom i vaterpolo.
on je smeće, kao i ti
Zivjela ‘RVATSKA!
I don’t think Bruno or Jarni are clowns. Jarni and or any hardcore dalmatinac would never cheer for dinamo and inversely no hardcore purger is going to cheer for hajduk. Plus Jarni played for Betis for 3 years. So of course he would cheer for them. BUT Jarni was the coach of a national team and publicly his statements needed to be more neutral simply because he represents a national team that has dinamo players. Simple stuff. Time for some media training Robert Jarni.
It was a Big win for Dinamo. Seems like Bruno used a little drama for inspiration.
Petković with a big F U game to everyone here, haha.
Good for him.
One can argue he is maybe more suited to be a big game kind of guy
Too lazy for the day to day but give him enough energy drink and motivation he will show up
Orsic too
Both these guys have played what mid level at best all their careers and have found ways to over perform in big games for both Dinamo and the repka
I have warmed a lot to Petkovic over the years and really appreciate his ball control skills. Surely one of the better forwards around with the ball at his feet. He also seems to have a very good temperament, especially under pressure.
However, I agree with you. He does not seem to work very hard off the pitch to get himself to the next level. He never seems fully fit and more specifically given his body shape he needs to work on his athleticism and aggression more. Imagine what he would be like if he added an extra step to his speed and increased his body strength a little bit.
Indeed !
Pretty sure Jarni knew what he was doing w/ his comments
He wanted to light a fire under Dinamo’s a*s (and it worked, at least for Petko)
Silly HNS now investigating Petko over “clown” (he shouldn’t have said it – but he was poked !)