After the first leg of the playoff, the Croatian champion is one step closer to advancing to the Champions League group stage.
In the first match of the Champions League playoff in Bern, the Young Boys and Dinamo played 1:1, reports Gol.hr on August 22, 2018.
The host team came out like a hurricane and took the lead already in the first few minutes. After a quick move from Nicolas Ngameleu to the right, Kevin Mbabu scored to put the Young Boys in the lead with 1:0.
Luckily, after a desperate half hour, the Croatian champion found their rhythm. The first strike at the Young Boys goal came from Amer Gojak 34 minutes into the match, but the shot went over the goal. Four minutes later, Dinamo equalized after a great counterattack. Olmo snatched the ball from the Young Boys defense, Theophile-Catherine found Izet Hajrović, whose brilliant ball found Mislav Oršić in a rather tricky one-on-one situation. The young midfielder came out in front of David von Ballmoos and scored for 1:1.
This is a great result for the Croatian Champion before the next game at Maksimir. Given that Dinamo secured an away goal in the first match, a draw without goals in the return match would be enough to push Dinamo into the most prestigious European league.
By placing into the Champions League group stage, Dinamo will earn €15.25 million, while a win is worth €2.7 million, and a draw is worth €900,000.
Dinamo has played in the Champions League six times so far, and now hunts to advance for the third time in the last four seasons. The Young Boys from Bern has never played in the Champions League. This is their sixth attempt, though they never advance past the qualifying round. They have fallen in the last round three times - last year against CSKA Moscow, the season before that against Borussia Monchengladbach, and in 2010 against Tottenham.
