Champions League progress for Dinamo Zagreb.
Dinamo has qualified for the Champions League for the fifth time in its history. In front of over 16,000 spectators at the Maksimir stadium, Dinamo was dominant over Albanian champions Skenderbeu and won 4-1. The success is even greater because Dinamo played with 10 players for the greater part of the second half. In the first tie played last week in Albania, it was already evident that Dinamo is a better team than the champions of Albania, but surprises are always possible, reports Vecernji List on August 25, 2015.
Yesterday evening at Maksimir, Dinamo immediately took the initiative at the very beginning. It quickly paid off when Soudani headed the ball in the net in the ninth minute. However, just a minute later, Esquerdinha equalized to 1-1 when Dinamo defence made a mistake. Skenderbeu started playing a little better, but Dinamo soon demonstrated its quality. In the 15th minute, Ćorić passed the ball to Soudani who hit the block, but Hodžić then hit a volley from 15 meters and scored for 2-1. The only problem for Dinamo was that the players were not accustomed to such strict refereeing. Italian referee Rocchi punished them with yellow cards for all their complaints or simulation attempts. Goncalo even received two yellow cards, in 17th and 48th minute, but Dinamo persevered.
The second half showed that guests were not physically ready for the game. Dinamo simply could not be stopped, not even by the heavy rain. In the 55th minute, Pjaca won a corner, and Taravel scored for 3-1 and the match was effectively decided. Near the end of the game, Soudani took advantage of a chance in the 80th minute when he escaped the Albanian defence. He had no mercy, and sent the ball into the bottom right corner of Shehi.
Dinamo will play in the Champions League this season, and will earn at a minimum 15 million euros. Dinamo have reached its goal, and that is the only important thing at the moment. Now they should make the most of this success and try to stay in the European competitions until the next spring, which they have not been able to do for as many as 46 years.
