Slovan Bratislava continues its journey through the Champions League. Tonight (from 6:45 p.m.) Dinamo will challenge Zagreb at home. The opponent is a little unpredictable, because he can explode from time to time, but he also knows how to surprise at any time. Finally, he also has a triumph over Chelsea and many other interesting results.
For the Whites, however, the question is: “When, if not today?” If they want to be the second Slovak club after Artmedia Bratislava to win the millionaire competition, now is their best chance.
On Saturday, Slovan tuned up to the Champions League with a triumph in Podbrezova (3:1), previously won in Skalica (3:2) and is already in first place in the domestic competition. Trainer Vladimír Weiss sr. the team rotates, on weekends it often gives players from the bench the opportunity to save the supports for the peak of the season. He still manages this difficult combination.
In addition, Róbert Mak could already return to the lineup, the worse news is that Juraj Kucka is still out of the game, joined by the recently injured defender Kevin Wimmer. Dinamo will probably miss star striker Bruno Petkovič.
Coach Weiss was a bit nervous at yesterday’s pre-match press conference, answering journalists’ questions with counters and criticizing their content. He repeated that the Croatian champion is the favourite, but “that doesn’t mean I’m afraid of him”.
“Dinamo will come here to win, they can still advance, in our case it’s a utopia. Let’s look at where we play. Well, I believe that we can win some point, I say this with full respect to the opponent. However, I would be a bad coach if I didn’t trust my own. People think that the easiest of our opponents came, but that’s not the case,” he said.
Weiss expects that Dinamo came to Bratislava in an offensive mood and will surprise with the task of his charges.
A million here, a million there
For Slovan, participation in the main stage of the Champions League is a success. It turns out, however, that it also carries a hint of bitterness, as the Slovak champion meets significantly stronger teams. In the three matches so far, the Whites have not scored a single point and have a significantly passive score of 1:11.
After the initial debacle in Celtic Park 1:5, they also lost the home match against Manchester City 0:4, and the last time they did not succeed in Girona (0:2).
Dinamo Zagreb is an acceptable opponent at first sight, football expert Ladislav Borbély already announced in advance that if Slovan can claim three points in any of the meetings, then it could be on Tuesday night.
However, the Croatian champion is the favorite anyway. A few weeks ago, he played an excellent result in Salzburg – he won 2:0. He has four points in the Champions League, and if he succeeds in the Tehelno polí, he should have solid prospects of getting into the advancing twenty-four.
He started his performance in the most prestigious European competition with a humiliating loss in Munich 2:9.
He is not doing so well in the domestic competition. They are currently seven points behind leaders Hajduk Split. He was in a similar, even worse situation last year, and finally triumphed safely in the league. Out of the last nineteen years, he did not win only once. In the 2016/2017 season, football players from Rijeka enjoyed themselves.
Dinamo is a Balkan phenomenon. There is regular interest in his players in the most advanced competitions in Europe. He sometimes sells the best football players for tens of millions of euros. The local record holder is defender Joško Gvardiol, who left for Leipzig for a sensational 37 million euros. Today he is a Manchester City player and recently introduced himself in Bratislava.
Even reigning European champion Dani Olmo played at the Maksimir – Dinamo’s stadium – before going to the Bundesliga and from there to Barcelona.
Modric, Kovacic, Kramarič, Guardiol, Lovren. Unlike Slovan, the club from Zagreb is not only dependent on income from international competitions, it “packs” the most from player sales. In the past, thirteen of them left there for ten million or more.
Hitrec-Kacian – that’s how the Dinamo academy is nicknamed – is among the best four in the world. At least that’s what the International Center for Sports Studies writes about it. It is said to be even better than the famous La Masia in Barcelona.
Rumor has it that every footballer who makes it from the Dinamo academy to the first team is automatically worth at least five million euros. Belasym cannot even dream of similar numbers.
The Transfermarkt portal reports that Dinamo’s most valuable player is currently 21-year-old offensive midfielder Martin Baturina, with a price tag of 20 million euros. That is two-thirds of the amount that represents the entire Slovan team. On the contrary, players from Zagreb have 73 million on paper.
A risky match
However, it may not mean much on the field. The values of the other clubs that Slovan will play against in the coming months are even higher. We can easily talk about multiples as well.
“The Slav can think about three points on Tuesday, I am convinced of that,” says Ladislav Borbély.
“But it’s such a bad combination, because already at the draw, many people said to themselves: Dinamo, they will win with this. On the other hand – Slovan will not have an easier obstacle. After all, AC Milan, Stuttgart, Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid are still waiting for him,” adds Ladislav Pecko, a former Slovan player.
It will be the match of a lifetime for Slavist Marko Tolič, who just came from Dinamo Zagreb. “Playing against the former club, where I took my first football steps, is beautiful. It will be interesting. I guess I will enjoy it and we will get the first points. Now I think it is possible. In any case, it will be emotional,” he believes.
2. Dinamo Zagreb Dinamo Zagreb.
Emotional on the field, but I guess not in the stands…
Due to the threat of disorder, this duel was marked as risky. The police therefore call on fans to respect all their instructions.
The match will also be accompanied by traffic restrictions. Up to four streets around the stadium will be completely closed on the day of the match.
Dinamo Zagreb fans call themselves “Bad Blue Boys” (Zlí mrí člači, editor’s note) and they have a bad reputation not only at home. The portal Bleacherreport even ranked them among the most dangerous ultras groups in Europe.
Last season, they were banned from traveling to away matches, as the meeting in Athens was preceded by their antics and the death of one of the Greek fans. However, the punishment for the Bad Blue Boys has passed in the meantime, and several hundred of them will come to Bratislava.
The meeting at Brickfield will be sold out, and Weiss believes in the power of the home crowd: “People can push us to the impossible.”
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
