Dinamo and Villarreal met in the Europa League quarterfinal return match on Thursday in Spain. The famous Spanish club won 1:0 in the first match seven days ago at Maksimir Stadium thanks to a penalty by Moreno.
Villarreal was the absolute favorite to move forward, but Dinamo went into the match with every intention of winning. At yesterday’s press conference, Damir Krznar and Mislav Oršić openly said that the hosts were the favorites, but so was Tottenham, and that Dinamo had the right to hope and continue to dream the European dream.
Lineups
VILLARREAL: Rulli – Foyth, Albiol, Pau Torres, Pedraza – Parejo, Capoue, Trigueros – Moreno, Alcacer, Chukuweze
DINAMO: Livaković – Ristovski, Lauritsen, Theophile, Gvardiol – Ademi, Jakić, Ivanušec, Majer, Oršić – Petković
Recap
Dinamo had a tough time finding their footing at the start of the match and only had their first real chance in the 11th minute. Villarreal proved to be too strong for the Croatian champion, and after hitting the post in the 24th minute, Chukuweze scored for 1:0 10 minutes later. Moreno increased Villarreal’s lead to 2:0 just before the half for a 3:0 aggregate for the Spanish club.
Dinamo started the second half much better than the first. Majer was one-on-one with the keeper five minutes in, and Gvardiol found Oršić at the top of the box who just missed the far post minutes later.
An epic save by Livakovic in the 66th gave Dinamo hope, and another Oršić far post rocket almost made it 2:1.
But Oršić finally got his chance. Petković assisted the Dinamo star for 2:1 in the 75th minute!
Oršić hit over the post when a free-kick was awarded to Dinamo just outside the box in the 87th minute. The referee added 3 minutes of extra time.
Dinamo thus says goodbye to this Europa League season after a historic run.
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