August 16, 2022 - Bodo/Glimt narrowly beats Dinamo 1:0 in Norway on Tuesday night in the first leg of the Champions League play-off round. 

Bodo/Glimt and Dinamo met in Bodo, Norway, on Tuesday night in the first of the last two battles to enter the Champions League. Aspmyra Stadium, which holds 8,300 spectators, was said to be nearly sold out.

Bodo/Glimt is the only obstacle between Dinamo and the elite football competition, which guarantees around 20 million euros. Dinamo says they have already achieved their first goal, which is playing in the Europa League group stage, but we all know the Champions League is the ultimate goal for any club. 

Bodo/Glimt is undoubtedly a dangerous opponent and was a hit in the last European season, meaning this match would be anything but easy. However, Dinamo was coming off of a 4:1 victory against their eternal rival Hajduk, which should have boosted their morale going into Tuesday's play-off. 

Lineups

BODO/GLIMT: Haikin – Wembangomo, Amundsen, Hoibraaten, Sampsted – Vetlesen, Hagen, Saltnes – Mvuka Mugisha, Salvesen, Pellegrino

DINAMO: Livaković – Ristovski, Šutalo, Lauritsen, Ljubičić – Ademi, Mišić – Špikić, Baturina, Oršić – Drmić

Match report

Bodo's first attempt of the match came in the 6th minute but was blocked by Dinamo's defense. Dinamo's first chance came a minute later when Drmić shot over the goal from the edge of the penalty area. A dangerous Bodo cross went into the box a minute after that but was cleared again by Dinamo's defense.

Bodo was hungry for a goal at the start of the first half and had their first shot on target in the 14th minute. Livaković was concentrated and easily defended the attempt. It had been a tough match so far without any major chances. 

Oršić shot from 25 meters in the 23rd minute, which went out for a Dinamo corner.

By the 36th minute, the possession was 51:49.

We saw the first goal of the match in the 37th minute. Pellegrino headed easily shot past Livaković for 1:0 Bodo. They also had a dangerous free kick from 22 meters out two minutes later, and hit the crossbar just a few minutes after that. 

It was 1:0 for Bodo at the half. 

Ivanušec and Petković entered the match for Drmić and Špikić to start the second half. 

Pellegrino had a golden opportunity in the 54th minute, which went just wide of the goal. 

Dinamo started picking up the pace nearing the 60th minute and pressed Bodo's defense. Petkovic had a chance that went a hair over the crossbar. 

Orsic had a chance in the next play and shot just wide of the far post. 

Orsic played through to Petkovic in the penalty area in the 63rd minute, but the Bodo keeper got to the ball first. 

Bodo was in Dinamo's half for the following five minutes and was lucky not to increase their lead. 

Bodo made their first sub in the 68th minute - Espejord entered for Slavesen. Dinamo subbed on Emreli for Orsic.

Dinamo scored from the offside position in the 71st minute, keeping the match at 1:0. 

Dinamo countered in the 73rd minute, which ended in no shot on goal, and Bodo had taken their 10th corner of the match a minute later. 

Gojak was subbed on for Baturina in the 77th minute, and Bodo's Grunbek and Koomson entered for Hagen and Mvuka Mugisha in the 81st minute. 

Petkovic missed the best chance of the game in the 86th minute. Petkovic dribbled the Bodo defense and found himself one-on-one with the Bodo keeper but shot over the goal! 

The ref added three minutes of stoppage time to the end in which neither team was able to score. The match ended 1:0 for Bodo and the return match will be played next week at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb.  

Post-match interview

More soon... 

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

August 18, 2021 - The Champions League play-offs got off to a rough start for Dinamo Zagreb, who looked unrecognizable against Moldovan club Sheriff in match 1 in Tiraspol.

Croatian champions Dinamo suffered a brutal defeat in the first Champions League play-off match against Moldovan club Sheriff in Tiraspol. Sheriff won 3:0 thanks to goals by Traore (45', 80') and Kolovos (54').

Sheriff completely outplayed Dinamo and deservedly gained a big advantage before the return match in Zagreb next week. 

"A disappointing game; Dinamo was not Dinamo today," said coach Damir Krznar. 

"We failed to impose ourselves in our idea of possessing the ball. We failed to gain control of the match, against an extremely aggressive opponent. They didn’t give us air; they didn’t let us breathe; they won all the long balls. Sheriff was the one who had more desire, more strength, more energy today, and they taught us a lesson in fighting spirit and will, and in the end, deservedly won," Krznar pointed out.

"We have to start; we have to change the philosophy in a short time; we have to go back to where we were. Everything Dinamo did, they did because they are an extremely hard-working team. Today we weren’t; today we were trying to be a hacker team from the neighborhood," the coach concluded.

Mislav Oršić and Lovro Majer were among those who gave the least.

"This is the worst Dinamo match since I've been here; I don't know what to say, I have no words. Nothing went, from the beginning everything was bad, we even had some shots in the first half, and in the second half, everything fell apart," Oršić said in a statement for Arena Sport.

"All praise to Sheriff, but I think we failed first. We have to look each other in the eyes and prepare as best we can for the return match, prepare for another miracle at Maksimir; I hope we will succeed," concluded Oršić.

Moldova has never had a representative in the Champions League group stage, and after the first 90 minutes of the clash against Dinamo, Sheriff has come very close to achieving just that. Dinamo will have to play a perfect match on August 25 to compensate for this loss. 

Source: HRT

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE.