November 1, 2019 - The representatives of the City of Zagreb and the football club Dinamo Zagreb agreed at a meeting on Thursday that a new Maksimir stadium would be built on the site of the existing stadium.

Gol.hr reports that a meeting between representatives of the City of Zagreb and representatives of football club Dinamo Zagreb was held on Thursday, where they decided to build a new stadium on the site of the existing Maksimir Stadium. The new stadium would be built in partnership between the City and the Zagreb club. 

While there has been a lot of talk over the past year about building a new stadium in the Croatian capital, it seems that Thursday’s meeting has finally taken a step to move things forward. 

The press release from the city office reads in its entirety:

"The Mayor of the City of Zagreb, Milan Bandic, and his associates met at the City Administration today with representatives of GNK Dinamo, led by President Mirko Barisic and President of the Executive Board Vlatka Peras, and discussed plans to build a new Maksimir football stadium.

It was concluded that this space is viewed as a complex entity through an urban competition that will resolve the issue of a football stadium with auxiliary grounds and an athletic stadium with the appropriate infrastructure.

It was agreed that Dinamo would make a final decision at its Assembly with clear guidelines defined by FIFA and UEFA about the standards for the construction of a new stadium at the site.

It was also defined that the new stadium project would be built in partnership between the City and GNK Dinamo.

Following the decision of the Dinamo Assembly, further steps can be taken regarding the realization of this historical project that is extremely important for Dinamo - an icon of Zagreb sport, essential for the city of Zagreb, its sports memory, and for all Zagreb and sports fans," concludes the statement by the City of Zagreb.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

September 18, 2019 - Dinamo Zagreb opened their seventh Champions League appearance against Atalanta at Maksimir stadium in Zagreb on Wednesday. 

And what a night it was.

Dinamo shocked Atalanta 4:0 in their first Group C match of the Champions League group stage on Wednesday in Zagreb. 

The Croatian champion won 4:0 with goals by Marin Leovac and Mislav Orsic. Leovac opened Dinamo's scoring spree in the 11th minute after a cross by Stojanovic, and Orsic scored 20 minutes later with a masterful shot from 16 meters. At the end of the first half, Orsic had scored for 3:0. And Dinamo wasn't done yet. 

In the 68th minute, Orsic curved the ball around the keeper for 4:0 - and he bagged himself a hat trick, too.

More than 30,000 fans welcomed the return of the Champions League to Maksimir, including 3,000 Italian fans who also made the trip to Zagreb. 

This was a historic match for the Italian club as they have never played in the strongest European competition. Atalanta's lineup also features Croatian midfielder Mario Pasalic, a former member of Hajduk Split.

On the other hand, in Dinamo’s past six a Champions League appearances, they have not made it out of the group stage - and in the 36 games played, Dinamo has won four, drawn five, and recorded 27 defeats with a goal difference of 22:82. However, Dinamo advanced to the round of 16 of Europa League last season, though Benfica eliminated them.

It is interesting to note that before the match against Atalanta, Dinamo had lost their last three games against Italian clubs. Most recently, in the 2016/17 Champions League group stage, Dinamo lost home and away to Juventus.

In the other Group C match on Wednesday, Manchester City topped Shakhtar Donetsk 3:0. 

Dinamo Zagreb will meet Manchester City next on October 1 at Etihad Stadium. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

August 21, 2019 - Dinamo welcomed Rosenborg in the first round of the Champions League play-offs on Wednesday night at Maksimir stadium in Zagreb. 

In front of 27,000 fans, Dinamo already took the lead in the 8th minute when Bruno Petković nailed a penalty after being taken down in the box.  In the 28th minute, the Croatian champion increased their lead to 2:0 when a long ball by goalkeeper Dominik Livaković found the boot of Mislav Oršić, who charged the Norwegian defense and ultimately nutmegged the keeper for the goal, reports Gol.hr

Dinamo had several other good opportunities, most notably missed by captain Arijan Ademi and Nikola Moro. The Norwegian club also threatened several times, but Dominik Livaković kept a clean slate. 

The return match in Trondheim is scheduled for Tuesday, August 27. The duel at Lerkendal Stadium will begin at 9 pm.

Unless they lose by three goals, Dinamo will secure a spot in Monte Carlo on August 29 (6 pm) in the tough draw for the Champions League group stage. 

In the event they lose, the Croatian champion will move to the draw of the Europa League group stage on 30 August (1 pm), a competition the club welcomed last spring and was eliminated in the round of 16 to Benfica.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Dinamo Zagreb went without a win in the first leg of the third round of the Champions League qualifiers. 

Dinamo and Hungarian club Ferencvaros played 1:1 at Maksimir in the first leg of the third round of the Champions League qualifiers. In front of 15,000 spectators, the goalscorer for Dinamo was Spanish star Dani Olmo while David Siger equalized for Ferencvaros, reports Gol.hr on August 6, 2019.

Already in the 3rd minute, Dani Olmo threatened Ferencvaros with a shot from 16 meters out, but goalkeeper Dibusz was on his toes to make the save. However, in the 7th minute, Oršić and Olmo’s extraordinary attack resulted in Dinamo's lead. Oršić played Dani Olmo, who then nutmegged Siger and nailed the corner of the Ferencvaros goal. In the 45th minute, Hajrović’s attempt for a goal was defended, and Ademi's header flew by the goal post.

The Hungarian club was much more determined in the second half and equalized in the 59th minute thanks to their first dangerous attack towards Dinamo's goal. Nguen shot on goal, which was defended by Livaković from about ten meters, though Siger capitalized on the deflection and nailed the Dinamo goal. Some of Dinamo's defenders managed to get the ball out, but the referee estimated that the ball had crossed the goal line.

In the 65th minute, Dinamo had an incredible opportunity when Hajrović hit the post from nine meters out. In the 81st minute, Olmo shot from just outside the penalty area, which was denied by the goalkeeper,  and Gavranović failed to capitalize on the deflection. 

The return match between these two clubs is scheduled for Tuesday, August 13, at the Groupama Arena in Budapest.

Since Dinamo did not manage to win against Ferencvaros in front of their fans, the decision on who will move forward will fall in Budapest. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Zagreb has many beautiful parks, with the most heavily frequented being the likes of Maksimir and Bundek to name just a couple of them, but there is one other park which is much lesser known than either of the previously mentioned; Grad mladih, located in the eastern zone of Dubrava which longtime Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić has his eye on.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/VLM writes on the 28th of May, 2019, despite being far less known than let's say, Zrinjevac, Grad mladih is still considered by many to be (or at least have been) a pearl of the City of Zagreb, and after the completion of the announced works, the claims are that it will be more beautiful than the likes of Maksimir, Bundek and Tuškanac put together.

A bold claim indeed, but confidently asserted by Zagreb's Milan Bandić during a visit to the aforementioned Zagreb park, where the first machines set to undetake the work arrived yesterday. They began working on the setting up of a 2.5 kilometre long, 2.2 million kuna fence. Works on the complete revival of the former park, affectionately referred to as ''Pioneer'' will take place in four different phases.

After the fence is in place, a video monitor will be set up, followed by all of the necessary communal infrastructure. The water supply network and hydrant network as well as a proper drainage system will be reconstructed.

Out of a total of 43 facilities located in this Zagreb park, seventeen are empty. This year, at least according to the announcements, twelve of them, for which all of the necessary project documentation is still being prepared, will be repaired and thus restored.

As far as the building there is concerned, more than five thousand square metres will be renovated, which includes the renovation of accommodation facilities, as well as the reception, the halls, the galleries, and the restaurants. In about four years, when these works worth a massive 40 million euros should be completed, this Zagreb park will also receive a hall, new playgrounds and a swimming pool, the construction was initially planned back in 1948 when ''Pioneer Town'' was built.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more. If it's just Zagreb you're interested in, give Total Zagreb a follow or check out Zagreb in a Page for everything you need to know about the increasingly popular Croatian capital.

Click here for the original article by VLM on Poslovni Dnevnik

November 15, 2018 - Croatia still has a shot in the UEFA Nations League after an incredible last minute win against Spain in Zagreb. 

There are no longer any tickets available for the highly anticipated UEFA Nations League match between Croatia and Spain on Thursday at Maksimir stadium in Zagreb. 

Zlatko Dalić announced the game between Croatia and Spain for the UEFA Nations League in Zagreb on Thursday. 

Spain’s manager Luis Enrique said on Thursday that his team would be welcomed in Zagreb to an unfriendly atmosphere and that the upcoming Nations League game has no connection to the one played in September when Spain beat Croatia 6:0.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić has published the lineup of the Croatia national football team for the upcoming games against Spain and England in the UEFA Nations League.