Champions League returns this week with the second-leg of the quarter-final matches.
A record 7 Croatian footballers are competing in the Champions League quarterfinals, and one Croatian club, in particular, should be feeling pretty honored.
Apart from Danijel Subašić and Ivan Rakitić, the five remaining Croatian footballers in the quarterfinals of Champions League all went through the GNK Dinamo Zagreb system, reports T.Portal.hr on April 17, 2017.
And what makes this even more exciting?
Other than the players that came through the clubs that qualified for the quarterfinals of Champions League (Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Leicester City, AS Monaco, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund), Dinamo Zagreb has the most players from their academy participating in this round of the tournament!
Luka Modrić, Mario Mandžukić, Mateo Kovačić, Marko Pjaca, and Šime Vrsaljko are the five stars from Dinamo Zagreb, pushing the club to the top of this list alongside Manchester United and Argentina’s River Plate.
Outside of the teams already participating in the tournament, here is the list of clubs with the most players participating in the Champions League quarterfinals.
Number of Players – Club – Players:
5 – Dinamo Zagreb – Modrić, Mandžukić, Kovačić, Pjaca, Vrsaljko
4 – Manchester United – Pique, Drinkwater, Simpson, Zieler
4 – River Plate – Mascherano, Higuain, Falcao, A. Fernandes
3 – Benfica – R. Sanches, A. Gomes, Bernardo Silva
3 – Caen – Lemar, Wague, Guerreiro
3 – Lille- Sidibe, Ribery, Digne
3 – Lyon – Pjanić, Benzema, Umtiti
3 – Stuttgart – Khedira, Ulreich, Kimmich
3 – Valencia – Bernat, P. Alcacer, Isco
2 – Chelsea – Huth, A. King
2 – Empoli – Rugani, Raggi
2 – Marseille – Mendy, Benatia
2 – 1860 München – Weigl, Bender
2 – Real Sociedad – X. Alonso, Griezmann
2 – Rennes – Bakayoko, Dembele
2 – Sporting CPC – Ronaldo, Moutinho
2 – Zadar – Modrić, Subašić
Tomorrow, Real Madrid faces Bayern Munich and Leicester City faces Atletico Madrid. Both games are at 20:45.
